Fallout: Crossroads
by Jagger356
Summary: It is 2277, and the Mojave is at a crossroads. A traveller escaping his past is unaware that he is running into the greatest conflict the NCR has ever faced, and will meet new allies and old enemies to ultimately decide the future of the Mojave wasteland.
1. Arrival

ONE – Arrival

The reception desk at the Mojave outpost was seeing little action today. It was high noon, and the hot desert sun beat down on the roof of the small building. The short line of people quietly moved on, towards a bored-looking NCR trooper. Those who had finished the process wasted no time in getting out of the sweltering heat and into the fresh air outside – preferring not to stay around and talk.

The quiet atmosphere of the cramped room was soon broken when a young man, obviously tired out from a long journey, stumbled while making his way through the door - causing it to slam against a nearby cabinet. All heads in the room turned towards him, and the man quietly muttered an apology, embarrassed by his clumsy entrance and conscious of some of their failed attempts at hiding their amusement. The trooper at the desk regarded the newcomer with narrowed eyes. The newcomer noticed this, and immediately knew – he had worked with his petty-minded type before. This man was the overseer of his small room, and he was going to go out of his way to make sure that he knew it.

A bored "next" signalled the newcomer's turn. He quickly walked up to the desk, eager to get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Name?"

"Jacob Lowe." replied the newcomer. His fears were soon realised when the time came for the trooper to look through his belongings. He moved with deliberate slowness, prodding through his possessions even though it was obvious he had not brought anything even remotely suspicious. They were then piled in a disorganised heap after the trooper's search, leaving it for Jacob to clear up afterwards. He was becoming increasingly agitated, but didn't show it.

"Weapon?" said the trooper suddenly; putting an end to what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Jacob unclipped the holster on his right hip and handed the pistol to the trooper, who couldn't help but to raise his eyebrows slightly at the sight.

"This is quite a firearm you've got here, son. A bit dirty, mind." The trooper remarked, taking his time to observe the weapon. Jacob only shrugged. He had built it himself by chopping down an old rifle, and replacing it's internals with a myriad of custom-made parts that he had put together himself. A feature that Jacob was particularly fond of were LEDs that changed colour depending on when the gun is ready to fire, although that was more for show than anything else. The result was a weapon that held no resemblance whatsoever to its former self, and was Jacob's pride and joy.

The trooper put down the pistol, and casually started writing on an old sheet of paper. Jacob stood and waited patiently, although his patience was quickly wearing thin.

"Welcome to the Mojave, son - Have a nice day. Next!" was Jacob's reward, who quickly sidestepped out of the way of the queue to retrieve his belongings. He rammed it all into his rucksack, slung it over his shoulder, and then started to walk towards the exit without looking back.

Once outside again, Jacob breathed a sigh of relief. He then wiped the sweat off of his brow and ran his hand through his short, dark brown hair in a single movement - His life in California was now behind him, and he had a chance to begin anew.

Jacob trudged his way out of the Mojave outpost, taking time to look up at a giant scrap metal sculpture of two figures shaking hands - One an NCR ranger, and another Jacob could not recognise. While walking past, he had to admire the quality of the metalwork - being reasonably skilled with metal himself; he could appreciate the craftsmanship involved. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and procured a battered old pip-boy to check the time. But before he put it back again, he took a quick glance at the date.

"2277. Two hundred years since the bombs fell." Jacob thought to himself, putting the pip-boy back into his pocket. He didn't know what he'd do without it. Having bought it back in NCR many years previously, it was a purchase that he never regretted.

Jacob followed the road out, and soon came to the crest of a hill. The road sharply dropped down into a valley, and he could suddenly see for miles. Jacob knew that there was an intersection further along the road, and this presented him with a problem – He could either follow the interstate down and go straight to New Vegas, or go the long way round, via highway 95. Jacob preferred the latter – unlike so many others who come here, Vegas was not the main goal of his trip. The place reminded him far too much of New Reno, a place that he was glad he'll never be visiting again. It had come a long way over the years, but was still essentially the armpit of New California – the crime families still held more influence over the town than the NCR had, and will probably stay that way for some time.

Jacob quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind; those days were behind him now. No, he was looking to earn a living outside of Vegas if possible. He wouldn't mind working for the Gun Runners, since he already had considerable experience in that field. Hell, even the idea of prospecting sounded good to him.

Jacob decided to take the long way round, but first he wanted to take the interstate to Primm. It would ultimately mean doubling back on himself, but he had heard from a caravan merchant at the outpost that the Mojave express was based there, which hired couriers to deliver packages to various settlements in the wasteland. Definitely worth having a look, Jacob thought as he maneuvered past the rusted hulks of cars strewn across the highway, making his way down the hill. Rats and other scavengers skittered among the wreckage, giving Jacob a wide berth. He couldn't help but feel uneasy though, and kept his right hand close to his gun - just in case.

Thankfully nothing came of it, and several hours passed without incident. Despite taking several breaks along the way, he needed to call it a day soon.

"Need to stop pushing myself so hard." Jacob thought to himself as he unscrewed the cap of his water flask - Primm couldn't be far away, but hurrying to get there would be just as dangerous as staying on the open road for too long.

Putting his flask away after taking a long swig, he noticed the outline of a building through the haze. Perfect. Hopefully it wasn't completely wrecked, and could still offer some form of shelter.

Upon closer inspection, Jacob could see that it was a dilapidated Poseidon energy gas station. The pumps were long gone; all that was left were their mountings and some old pipes sticking up from the ground. The building was in reasonable condition though, and that's what mattered. Striding across the forecourt, Jacob couldn't help but wonder how big this company must have been - the name was all over the place back in California, maybe it was the same story over here as well?

Cautiously opening the door of the old building, Jacob checked if it was already inhabited. The light filtered in to fill the room, and an alarming scuttling sound was his reward.

Quickly stepping into the stale, dusty air and drawing his pistol at the same time, he set about looking for the source of the noise. Surely enough he found it, a pair of Radroaches were crawling along the wall at the back of the room. Acting on autopilot, he quickly brought his pistol up and fired twice.

One of the shots found its target - hitting it straight in the centre of its body and nearly splitting it in half, causing it to fall off the wall and hit the floor with a surprisingly loud thud. However, the other shot missed its target by about a foot, burying itself into the wall and sending pieces of plaster flying. The other Radroach, startled by the sudden carnage, dropped down from the wall and started scuttling among the junk and detritus that littered the floor with surprising speed. A couple more shots quickly took care of it, and the room was quiet once again.

"Damn vermin" thought Jacob. If he was going to stay here for the night, he was going to make sure he won't be nibbled to death in his sleep. Clicking his pistol open, the cylinder automatically ejected the spent cases. He took time while reloading to look at the food stacked up on the shelves, and smiled to himself. He won't be going hungry tonight, that's for sure. He also picked up an old hand grenade lying on the floor – he wasn't sure how it got there but guessed it would come in handy sometime.


	2. Nuts And Bolts

TWO – Nuts And Bolts

Jacob woke at the crack of dawn, and after a quick breakfast of Cram he was off again. He savoured the cool breeze across his face before the sun got too high - It was going to be another roasting hot day.

After a couple more hours, Jacob finally reached Primm. He was then immediately reminded of how much he had missed civilisation since he started his journey - It would be refreshing to finally be around other people after so long on his own. Walking over the crumbling bridge that spanned the interstate, he made his way to the edge of town. He needed to let off some steam, and the nearest casino would fit the bill nicely.

Upon entering the Vikki and Vance casino, it came as a bit of a surprise. Jacob had been to his share of casinos, but the atmosphere in this one was far different to any he had been to. It was less chaotic and much more friendly - but he guessed that was because most of the gamblers were in New Vegas instead. Looking around the room, the first thing he saw was an old car sitting on a raised platform in the centre - all riddled with bullet holes. "Some kind of tourist attraction" thought Jacob as he exchanged a few caps for a pocketful of chips - he was going to try and not blow all his money in this place at once.

Jacob decided to bet his chips first on a few hands of blackjack, and before long he had lost nearly all of them. He was considering giving up when a stranger sat down on the stool next to him and decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hey stranger, you new in town? I haven't seen you around here before." said the stranger as he placed his chips on the table. He looked slightly older than Jacob, probably in his late twenties, with unkempt brown hair and a fair bit of stubble on his jaw.

"Yeah, I'm from California." said Jacob, smiling slightly. "Name's Jacob, nice to meet you."

"Andy, nice to meet you too." he said, offering a handshake - which Jacob took. "I have some relatives over there, but haven't heard from them in years. What's it like nowadays?"

"Safety, law and order all that.. well, in most places anyway." said Jacob, laughing. "Too dull for me, I came to be on the frontier - are you local here?"

"More or less, probably a few months now. Town's a real nice place - if there's anything you need, I can show you round, tell you what's what." offered Andy, which Jacob couldn't refuse.

The two of them seemed to become friends almost effortlessly, and spent the rest of the afternoon and then evening gambling, drinking and chatting. Jacob left the casino with considerably less caps than he had when he entered, but in his view it was money well spent. Following Andy's advice, he booked a room at the Bison Steve Hotel and enjoyed the best night's sleep he'd had for weeks. Jacob's journey in the Mojave was definitely off to a good start.

* * *

><p>Jacob slept in late that morning, something he sorely needed after so much time on the open road. After enjoying breakfast in the hotel's restaurant, he laid out his plans for the day. Top of his list was to find some work and the Mojave express seemed a good place to start, even though he wasn't too keen on leaving town so quickly. Asking around town for odd jobs sounded good too, and it will let him get to know the locals a little better.<p>

He was still pondering what to do and who to ask as he walked out of the building, and nearly collided into a passer-by walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey, easy there." He said, carrying on moving but stopping himself to turn back to face Jacob. "Wait, you're new in town? I don't recognise you - I'm Sheriff McBain, if there's anything you need be sure to let me know"

"Sorry about that" said Jacob, slightly embarrassed. "There is one thing you could help me with though - I'm looking for some odd jobs to do around town, could you recommend any to me?" It was a long shot, but the sheriff was probably the best person to ask for this sort of thing.

McBain paused for a moment, scratching his chin. "I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I do know of a few people that could use an extra pair of hands. What are you handy at?"

"I guess I'm good at fixing machines, and not a bad shot either." replied Jacob. Hopefully this was getting somewhere.

"Well, I doubt our mechanic will turn down your help - more often than not he's got his hands full with something or other. His name's Kyle, usually works at the old gas station at the front of town. I'd recommend going there."

"Thanks for the pointer - the names Jacob, by the way."

"Don't mention it - enjoy your stay!" Was McBain's response before walking away to wherever he was headed. Looks like it paid off after all - Jacob headed towards the front of town to look for this "Kyle" and see if he had any work for him.

Surely enough he found him, stood over a workbench in the station's garage, surrounded by shelves stacked almost to breaking point with all manner of tools and spare parts, welding something that Jacob could not identify at this distance. Jacob smiled to himself - as soon as he first heard of him, he imagined this exact scene in his mind.

"Hey, your name's Kyle?" called Jacob, Leaning against the opening of the garage.

Kyle, too distracted to notice him approach, suddenly jumped and turned off his welding torch. Turning round and lifting his mask, Jacob got the chance to see his face for the first time. His skin was heavily tanned and wrinkled - the effects of constant exposure to the sun were obvious. He looked to be in his fifties, but it was hard to tell.

"Yeah, that's right. What do you want, I'm busy." was his reply. Not a great start.

"Sorry to bother you, but sheriff McBain said that you could use a hand." Being polite wouldn't hurt, but if he was as busy as what McBain told him then he would have little reason to turn down his offer anyway.

All traces of antagonism vanished from the man's face. "He did? Well come in, I may have something for you." was his enthusiastic response, beckoning him over with his free hand. Feeling pleased with himself, Jacob walked across the garage to within talking distance, and noted the thick smell of oil in the air. "I got this old generator that gave up the ghost the other day, and I haven't had time to look at it. Could you? There will be caps in it for you."

Jacob couldn't refuse. "Of course, I'll see what I can do." He had loved taking things apart and putting them back together since he was a small child. He guessed it was something of a family tradition. His dad was the exact same, and passed down the tricks of the trade to him.

"Smashing, you can help yourself to all of this junk if you need to" he said, gesturing towards the shelves around the room. "The blasted gear-bucket is over there." Pointing to the dysfunctional generator in the corner. "I'll let you get to it, but give me a shout if you need anything." Sliding his welding mask over his face, he turned round and set to work at his workbench. Jacob did the same with the generator - he sat down and started the long and systematic process of taking the ancient Internal Combustion Engine apart.

About half an hour and several scuffed knuckles later, Jacob had understood the severity of the problem. One of the valves had dropped out of its mounting at some point, leaving it to be repeatedly smashed around inside the cylinder. The piston had an inch-wide hole punched through it, and the cylinder head was damaged as well - requiring both to be replaced, and there was also a chance that other parts could have been damaged by the shock as well.

"Hey, I'm off to lunch now, you coming?" Said Kyle, and Jacob shook his head - he was going to need all the time he could get for this. He doubted he would be able to find any replacements for the stricken engine, but he decided not to strip it down and instead set about looking for replacement parts.

Thankfully, despite it being an outdated technology that particular model was relatively common - he found most of the major parts lying around but some retrofitting had to be done for the ones he couldn't find. He knew he was pushing his luck, but was reasonably confident in his abilities. He was about to slot in a new crankshaft when he heard a voice behind him.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I watch?" The voice's words were friendly enough, but Jacob couldn't help but stiffen slightly - It didn't sound human, ghoul or even super mutant. They were spoken with a very deep, guttural rumble - it was like nothing he had ever heard before. Looking round towards the owner of the voice, he was still unable to find any clues - its huge form was hidden under an equally large, brown robe, face obscured by a deep hood, and with arms hidden in long sleeves. Despite being more than a bit intimidated, Jacob felt slightly sympathetic at the friendliness of his words, and was put at ease by them.

"Err, yeah - sure." Friends were probably hard to come by for someone like him.

The robed figure seemed to be aware of Jacob's discomfort. "Apologies for my rudeness, I was just curious. I rarely have the occasion to observe the workings of these machines." Jacob wondered why, but thought nothing more of it.

"It's alright. My name's Jacob, nice to meet you."

"Likewise, I am Goris. Forgive me if I don't offer to shake your hand, but I'm afraid my... condition may prove alarming and I do not wish to revolt or frighten you."

"To be honest, I'm not sure why you'd want to right now." said Jacob, noting his filthy hands and wiping them on a rag. Just what was he trying to hide? Jacob would rather not know.

He then continued putting the parts back together, occasionally explaining to Goris their roles and the mechanics behind them. He listened intently, his concentration never flagging – or at least that's what it looked like. Goris also appeared to be very smart, managing to surprise Jacob a fair few times with suggestions that he would not have thought of himself. Sometime later Kyle had returned from his lunch - and after a shifty glance at Goris – joined in to watch Jacob's progress.

An hour or so later, the generator had been assembled and after an oil change (taking care not to use too much – Jacob didn't have the faintest idea of how Kyle got his hands on the stuff) It was finally ready to be fired up. Flicking a switch, the machine sputtered into life with hardly a murmur of anything wrong – earning a cheer from Kyle and something resembling a chuckle from Goris.

"Thanks for that, here's something for your troubles." Said Kyle, handing him some NCR paper money. Jacob took it with a smile - he sorely needed it after yesterday. Leaving the garage with a wave, he headed for the Mojave Express office. He wanted to be on the road again and earning some caps at the same time sounded like a good deal.

Opening the door of the small building, he made his way to the front desk. Standing behind it was an old man with short grey hair and with dark, leathery skin, who was shifting through papers while Jacob walked towards him.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" he said, looking up and leaning against the desk.

"Yeah, I heard you hired couriers, and I was wondering if you had any orders down the '95 I could deliver to. I'm planning on heading out there soon." said Jacob, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"Oh, of course – let me have a look" going back to sifting through papers, while Jacob waited patiently.

A few seconds later, he looked up again. "Sorry, we don't have any spaces at the moment" he said, shaking his head. "Things are starting to get busier though, maybe you could come back later?"

"Yeah sure, I'll keep that in mind." Jacob was disappointed, but he found some comfort in the fact that there would hopefully be work for him should he decide to return to Primm in the future. "My name is Jacob, by the way."

"Johnson Nash." he said, nodding. "I'll make a note of it in case you come back."

"Thanks, bye!" said Jacob, turning to the door with a wave. By now the sun was close to setting, and he guessed it was time to get something to eat and plan out his journey for tomorrow.


	3. Deceiving Appearances

THREE – Deceiving Appearances

"There's one – right there!" said Andy, pointing at the gecko running across their field of view. Jacob lifted his loaned varmint rifle, took a deep breath and fired. The .22 Long Rifle round left the muzzle with a short "crack" and hit the gecko neatly in the leg – causing considerable damage to the muscles keeping it in motion. The gecko cried out, staggering alarmingly to the right, but quickly managed to compose itself and limp out of sight before Jacob could chamber another round.

Instead of leaving in the morning as planned, Jacob decided to look for Andy. Surely enough he found him in the Vikki & Vance, the same way he first met him. After telling him about his plans, Andy insisted that he should go hunting with him before he left. Half an hour later here he was on the outskirts of Primm, plinking at geckoes.

"Fast little bugger" noted Jacob, rushing over to where they last saw it, while simultaneously pulling the bolt back with a neat "click" and letting the spent case fall to the ground. His observation was not unfounded, as when they came to the spot the gecko was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did it go?" he called across to Andy as he looked behind a clump of bushes. He soon found out when he heard Andy yell behind him.

The gecko had come out of hiding, ran up and sunk its sharp teeth into Andy's lower leg – causing him to yell out in pain and jerk round, trying desperately to shake the damn thing off. Jacob whipped round while discarding his gun, sprinted the distance between them and placed a well-timed kick into the side of the gecko's head. The force of the blow was enough to remove it's vice grip on Andy's leg, and sent its limp form hitting the ground hard.

Getting his breath back, "This wasn't a good idea." said Andy, grimacing. The wound was deep and weeping blood, but thankfully the gecko wasn't a particularly big one so the damage was not catastrophic.

"All in the name of fun and profit!" replied Jacob with a grin, wrapping his leg with a bandage from the survival pack he brought with him. This earned him a good laugh from Andy. "We had better get back to Primm."

Jacob was just about to pick up Andy's rifle before he realised it wasn't over yet – the commotion had attracted the gecko's buddies, who were out for revenge. Cursing to himself, he scrambled for the gun and lifted it up. Getting Andy's attention with a quick call, he passed it through the air towards him and took his own gun out of its holster.

Andy caught the old varmint rifle, and after fumbling with the grip he was ready to fire. Jacob had let loose his first shot by now, causing the geckos to stop passively watching and scatter towards the two of them. Letting a shot loose, Andy hit one straight in the chest, but yielded little results. He needed a bigger gun.

Thankfully Jacob didn't have such a problem, his more powerful pistol barking away – often proving fatal if the bullets found their targets. Pressing a tab on the side of the pistol, the motorised cylinder folded out and ejected the spent cases. The process of reloading gave Jacob enough time to realise there were too many geckos for them to take on at once.

It was clear they needed to make a run for it, but Jacob doubted that would be possible with Andy's injured leg. As the crowd of geckos moved closer, Jacob suddenly remembered. Taking out the hand grenade he found a few days earlier, he pulled the pin and threw it as hard as he could. And prayed it wasn't a dud.

The grenade landed neatly in the centre of the group of geckos, and promptly blew them into smithereens. The two of them picked off the stragglers, and then there was silence.

Andy, still not having recovered from the ordeal, propped himself against a nearby boulder. "Well, that's lunch sorted." he muttered. At least he was looking on the bright side.

Jacob walked up to Andy and helped him up. "Let's get you back to Primm, before more show up."

* * *

><p>After a well-earned lunch of gecko steak, Jacob was finally ready to leave Primm. Andy's leg should heal up fine eventually, which was good news. He walked on towards the edge of town until he came across Goris.<p>

"Hello Jacob, I heard you were leaving." said Goris with his characteristic growl.

"Yeah, I'd like to see more of the Mojave before I settle down anywhere" replied Jacob.

"So you are an explorer, then?"

Jacob wasn't sure what he was getting at, but he went with it. "I guess you could say that. I like learning new things."

Goris paused for a moment. "I would say that I am the same, I have been roaming for some time now." And then added, somewhat tentatively: "I'm not very comfortable going it on my own though, if you know what I mean."

Jacob understood. He had never originally considered having a travelling companion before, especially not a mutant like Goris. But somehow he knew that he would be good company, much better than talking to himself at least.

Sure, he was going to go for it. "I see... how about coming with me?"

Goris seemed taken aback by his offer – Jacob doubted that he was expecting it to work. After a strangely tense moment, Goris responded. "I would be honoured to join you!"

And at that, Jacob set off south down the I-15 with Goris in tow. He decided that he was going to bypass Nipton - Andy told him that it would be for the better - and head along highway 95 towards the town of searchlight. It was a long journey, but he felt reasonably comfortable now that he wouldn't be one person alone in the desert anymore.

"How long had you been staying in Primm for, Goris?" Jacob asked.

"Not too long, maybe a week or two. I recently came here from back west."

Jacob was interested by this information. "Same here for me, I guess the Mojave is seeing a lot of traffic now that New Vegas has been discovered. Where in California did you come from?"

"I came from a place near a town called Shady Sands, out in the mountains..." Goris seemed to be thinking for a moment. "A nice place." he added. "What about you?"

"I was close; I was born in Shady Sands myself." Jacob replied with a hint of pride.

The pair journeyed farther south, until night began to fall and they decided they should find somewhere to sleep for the night. Soon enough they found what looked like the highway patrol station that Jacob had passed on his way to Primm, and were walking towards it until they found out that someone had gotten there first.

Moving towards the rocky outcrops that walled one side of the road, they ducked behind some boulders without them noticing. Peering through the semi-darkness, Jacob could make out what looked like a group of three Viper thugs having some kind of argument.

Jacob was pondering just what to do with them, when suddenly Goris spoke from behind his shoulder. "Excuse me." and hurried off out of sight.

"Goris, what the hell are you doing?" whispered Jacob. He couldn't just run off and abandon him! Jacob was about to get up and follow when a bullet glanced off the boulder mere feet from his head, sending shards of rock into his face.

"Goddammit!" yelled Jacob, dropping to the floor out of their line of sight and scrambling for his pistol - temporarily blinded. Looks like they noticed him.

Once he got his eyesight back to some degree, he set about replying with shots of his own - but it was no use. He was outnumbered and could easily be suppressed, thanks to them having automatic weapons. They could just prevent him from firing back until they got close enough to finish him off. He needed a miracle.

He prayed while a hail of bullets pounded the rock he was hiding behind, but decided it was no use. If he was going down, he was going to take at least one of them with him. When the Vipers stopped to reload, he took his chance. He got to his feet as quick as lightning, his gun drawn, and couldn't believe what happened next.

An enormous grey shape emerged from above one of the outcrops, and with an almighty roar jumped down towards the Vipers - crushing one beneath its feet. While straightening up from the impact it dealt with the second Viper with an incredibly powerful upwards slash strong enough to send its victim airborne in a spray of blood. The creature then used the momentum from the previous strike to drive its claws straight through the abdomen of the third Viper, forcing them out the other side. The whole thing was over in a heartbeat - if Jacob had blinked, he would have missed it.

Jacob was in shock. He was pointing his gun at the monster, but did not have the mental cohesion to pull the trigger. It was probably ten feet tall, with foot long claws and a pair of evil-looking horns jutting out of its skull, pronged forwards above a pair of strangely intelligent eyes. Unlike the usual sand colour that Jacob had heard about, this particular specimen had a grey hide, although it could have been the darkness playing tricks with his eyes. It was the first, and most definitely last time he would see a Deathclaw up close, like so many others before him.

He was resigned to his fate, but the end did not come. Instead, man and monster were frozen, staring at each other, the long silence only broken by the choking sounds coming from its dying victims. The Deathclaw was partly frozen into the stance when it killed the last viper - having stopped when it noticed Jacob aiming his gun towards it. And then to his further disbelief, the beast started to slowly raise its huge, clawed hands - still dripping with blood. The gesture had the exact opposite of its intended effect, and only made it all the more terrifying.

And just when Jacob thought the situation couldn't get any stranger, the creature spoke.

"I do not wish to harm you." It was Goris' voice.

What the hell? Had the Vipers killed him and this was some kind of after-death event? Jacob could feel the blood draining from his face, but kept himself together.

A few long moments later, Jacob had finally managed to compose himself and was able to force out some words. "Is... Is there a reason you didn't warn me about this?" he stuttered, still aiming his gun at Goris.

"I am sorry; I have found my appearance tends to provoke snap decisions towards me. I figured it would be to my advantage to hide my identity, so you could judge me by my actions towards you and not through surface appearances." Goris hesitated and stared at the ground. "I was afraid."

Did Jacob hear that right? How could such a formidable being be scared of him? Still, he could see the truth behind his words, and slowly lowered his pistol. Goris, taking this as a sign that he wasn't about to be shot, cautiously lowered his hands in return and straightened up to his impressive full height - the worried expression fading from his face, to be replaced with relief instead.

Walking over to Jacob, Goris held out his hand. "Allow me to start over."

Jacob took it gingerly, the huge clawed hand dwarfing his. "He could snap my arm off with the flick of his wrist." Jacob thought, but pushed it to the back of his mind, only to realise that Goris' hand was still covered in the Viper's blood.

He shrugged it off however; their blood could have been his. "Thanks for saving me."

Something resembling a smile formed on Goris' reptilian features. "It was my pleasure."

Jacob slept on an old cot in one of the station's cells, where he had time to figure out what had just happened. He had just been saved by – and shook hands with – a Deathclaw, and a talking one at that. He smiled and shook his head – nobody back in California would believe him.


	4. Scars

FOUR – Scars

Jacob stood on the edge of the road outside the highway patrol station, getting a breath of fresh air. He could barely sleep last night - the stale air made breathing difficult. He had woke up at dawn and decided to watch the sun rise while Goris slept, taking advantage of the cold air before the sun had a chance to bake everything to within an inch of its life again. He also took the opportunity to reflect on his journey so far in the Mojave Desert - it seemed a much more colourful place than back home, and he hadn't even been to the strip yet.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a noise behind him. "Good morning, Jacob." said Goris, emerging from the station's garage - lifting the heavy steel door up with one arm, with his robe hanging from the other.

"Morning, Goris." said Jacob, looking over his shoulder. The novelty of engaging a Deathclaw in civil conversation still hadn't worn off. He also noticed the scars across Goris' body, which confused him - they weren't simple cuts or even gunshot wounds, more like plasma scoring. Jacob wondered how he could get in a fight against such advanced technology (and survive), but thought nothing more of it and focused on the task at hand: getting to Searchlight. He made a mental note to ask him about it later, though.

"What is the plan for today?" said Goris, walking over while settling the beat-up cloak over his body.

"I don't know..." replied Jacob, taking out his pip-boy to read its map. The journey to Searchlight will take at least a day, requiring an overnight stop in Nipton... or a hole in the ground somewhere. From what Andy had told him, drugs, gambling and prostitution were rife there - not a great place to stay the night for an out-of-towner like Jacob. He also thought of Goris; he could either keep Jacob out of trouble, or throw him straight into it - Or both, in either order. "We may have to stop in Nipton." he added, putting the pip-boy back into the pocket of his jacket.

"I suppose there's not much choice."

"No, not really." said Jacob, scratching the stubble that had formed along his jaw. "Let's go inside and get something to eat before we go."

After breakfast, Jacob made the gruesome task of gathering guns and ammo from the dead Vipers that had the pleasure of meeting Goris the night before. Sitting at one of the desks inside the station, he began to sort the various types of ammunition to take with him. The guns themselves were practically falling apart - poorly welded and held together with tape, so there was no use bringing them. While Jacob set about his task, Goris had walked up to a bookcase, picked a book that wasn't too badly damaged and sat down on one of the chairs – his claws flipping through pages with practiced precision, concentration etched on his face. Jacob noticed this, and occasionally gave a bemused glance across the room towards him. This was too weird.

A short while later, Jacob had finished packing the ammunition into any containers he could find and they were out on the open road again. He still had countless questions to ask Goris though, so he figured it would be best to make a start. He wouldn't admit it, but Goris still scared the hell out of him, and it was likely to stay that way until he made some attempt to break the ice.

"So, how did you learn to speak?" he asked Goris, who was walking alongside him - one step to Jacob's two. Not needing to hide his identity here, he had thrown his hood back to let some of the body heat out.

Goris gave a chuckle, followed by a quick sigh. "The mutation that gave me the intelligence required for such a complex task is not a natural one. Myself among others were subject to experimentation by a group of humans calling themselves the Enclave."

Jacob raised his eyebrows at the news - That may explain the scars. He had heard stories about the Enclave from time to time – stories about soldiers in jet-black power armour and wielding plasma rifles abducting people from their villages with their flying machines. Apparently they had disappeared without a trace many years before Jacob was even born; meaning he usually had a hard time believing them.

"This Enclave wanted an army, and they chose Deathclaws because of our physical advantage over humans. The only thing lacking was the intelligence needed to understand complex commands, which was solved when they tested something called the Forced Evolutionary Virus on us."

"The same stuff that made the super mutants?" asked Jacob.

"I would assume so, although the results were rather unexpected." said Goris, frowning while scratching his chin with one of his talons. "The Enclave had succeeded at turning us into soldiers, or so they thought. We had become much more intelligent than they initially realised – enough so to understand that we were destined for a life of slavery. We escaped when we got the chance and... Well, here I am!"

Jacob mulled over this information – he had a feeling that wasn't the full story. He decided not to pursue it though, and talked with Goris about other things as they made their way towards Nipton. They decided to take a quick break near some old, crumbling buildings in the middle of the desert, and continued chatting there.

"Why did you come here from California?" Goris asked Jacob, who was drinking a bottle of beer.

Putting the bottle down, Jacob replied after some thought. "I'm not really sure; I just wanted to get away from it all." He paused as he picked his drink again. "Things were too dull." He added before taking another swig.

"Do you have any relatives there?" asked Goris, his beady eyes fixed on Jacob's, head cocked slightly to one side.

"I never really knew most of my family. Ma died when I was a kid, leaving me with my dad. My brother was killed fighting the brotherhood a few years back, and my sister went to New Reno and never returned. I still don't know what happened to her."

Goris looked away from him and down at the table. "I'm so sorry, Jacob." he said, with genuine sympathy apparent in his coarse voice.

Jacob shrugged. "I guess that's just the way things are. I still miss them, though." Staring into empty space for a moment, he then finished what was left of his drink. Glancing across, Jacob could see Goris was deep in thought, eyes fixed on a crooked nail on the edge of the table.

He needed to lighten the mood somehow. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?" he asked, and before waiting for an answer he stood up and walked away – taking the empty beer bottle with him. He placed it on top of one of the crumbling walls from a collapsed building, and started walking back.

"What are you doing?" asked Goris, perplexed.

"My dad was a damn good shot." Folding open the cylinder of his pistol, he took out every round, save for one. "He taught me how to shoot since I was a kid." Closing the cylinder with a whining sound from the gun's electronics, he looked down the gunsight and fired. The bullet hit home, shattering the bottle into tiny fragments - the sound from the gunshot bounding across the featureless desert.

"That was quite impressive." said Goris after a brief pause. "I'm afraid I am not fully able to appreciate the skill that is involved though." Holding up his clawed hands, he tried to look apologetic but failed. "I would say I am in envy of you humans with your technology that I'm not able to fully utilise myself."

"Yeah, I suppose those hands would make things tricky." said Jacob, while scratching his chin. It must be frustrating as hell.

"What was your father like?"

Jacob was taken aback by the sudden and personal nature of the question, but strangely enough, he was beginning to trust Goris. "He was a very harsh person, sometimes I didn't get along with him. To be honest, he was one of the reasons I left my old life behind."

"A reminder then, that we are similar, but not the same." said Goris, slightly tentatively.

"What makes you say that?" Jacob wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"A strong sense of legacy exists within our society. My father was the alpha male of our pack, and I always felt it was my duty to continue from where he left off – to propagate our bloodline. We never really fell out, we all respected him deeply."

"I see…" said Jacob, thinking over Goris' words. Interesting, he didn't think he would ever be getting a lesson about Deathclaw society in his life.

"There are similarities, however. I was something of a scholar when I was younger, and studying human culture was one of my preferred intellectual pursuits." Goris said, rather shyly, but with an air of cheerfulness in his voice. "We adopted a few things." He added, forming his lips into a smile. Jacob didn't know if it was simply because his mouth wasn't designed for smiling, but something about it suggested that it was forced.

Jacob kept this in mind as the pair made their way towards Nipton – he had a hard time figuring Goris out. He still seemed a very well-spoken individual though, and Jacob's initial fears of him were eventually quashed as the day wore on.


	5. Brawl

FIVE - Brawl

When they finally got to Nipton Jacob realised that Andy wasn't over exaggerating - before they had even entered the town Goris could notice. "Such a peculiar smell." he noted, his slit-like nostrils flared as he sniffed at the air before flicking his hood over his head. There was probably a drug lab or two around here somewhere. It was now coming close to dusk, and figures were already stumbling along the pavements drunk out of their minds.

Walking down Nipton's streets towards the centre of town, Jacob wondered how he would even get a place for the night - especially with Goris. They passed a figure leaning against the side of a building, waving a knife through the air with several empty jet inhalers at his feet. "What a pitiful sight." Jacob thought. He had experimented with jet when he was in his teens, but quickly realised what he was doing and gave it up before it took control of him completely.

Jacob was still clueless, not having found anywhere to get any information. He soon decided to enter a nearby bar, hoping that he would be able to find out there. Upon entering, Jacob was beginning to doubt that his idea was going to work - he became very conscious of some of the stares he was getting from some of the drinkers. He probably stuck out like a sore thumb.

Pulling up a stool at the end of the bar, Jacob waited to be served, with Goris standing next to him. Soon enough the bartender appeared, asking for his order. "Glass of whiskey, thanks." said Jacob, leaning against the bar. "There's also something you could help me with - I'm new in town, and I am looking for a place to stay the night. Do you have any suggestions?"

The middle-aged bartender paused for a moment. "You could try the Nipton hotel, but I'm not so sure about your... Friend..." he said, after a nervous glance at Goris. Jacob looked down at his glass - this was going to be harder than he thought. He then looked round the room, wondering what to do next.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" said a voice at the other end of the bar, and the owner got up from his stool and made his way towards them.

"Trouble." said Goris, in his ear. Jacob noticed a group of four burly men appear at the edge of his vision, and turned around to face them with a knot in his stomach.

"Yeah, I was talking to you." said the thug, a sneer on his face and not-completely focused eyes staring back at Jacob with malice.

"I was new in town and just wanted a drink, friend." replied Jacob, the knot in his stomach tightening. They probably knew that anyway - that's what made him a target in the first place.

"Friend? Who would want to be friends with someone like you?" the lead thug slurred out, obviously drunk. Laughter broke out among the thugs behind him.

"Look, just let me leave, and there will be no trouble."

The thug, sensing his advantage, moved closer to Jacob- who could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Give me your money." he demanded.

"That's not a good idea." said Goris, speaking for the first time before Jacob could respond.

"Yeah? Wh't are you gonna do about it?" the thug slurred as he turned round to face him, obviously too drunk to realise what he was getting himself into.

"Let us leave, and nobody gets hurt."

"I 'ent scared of you!" said the thug, glaring up into Goris' hood. Jacob didn't know whether to laugh or get ready to duck for cover, something told him he was glaring back.

A quick pause. "Yes you are." snarled Goris, with deliberate slowness, adopting a threatening stance – which coming from Goris, should have sent them running. Jacob's heart started beating faster as the adrenaline set in - either intimidation was part of Goris' diplomatic solution, or maybe he thought it wasn't worth the effort to try and reason with this man?

The thug, some degree of fear appearing on his face, decided the best way to answer this challenge was to ignore it completely, and to concentrate on Jacob instead. He punched Jacob in the stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending him staggering backwards. He then began to turn towards Goris, quickly reaching into his jacket for a hidden weapon.

Goris was faster. He retaliated lightning-fast with a punch of his own, the tremendous force of the impact sending the brute falling to the floor and leaving him slumped against the bar. This triggered a free-for-all among the bar's patrons looking for an excuse to fight - Jacob guessed the alcohol-muddled mind just worked that way.

The now-unconscious thug's cronies seemed to be drunk out of reason too, for they figured that the odds were still in their favour against the towering figure standing before them - one of them charged towards it, knife drawn. Goris gave him a shove to the side, letting the thug's compromised sense of balance take care of the rest - He couldn't use his claws here, he didn't want to kill them. This act of mercy allowed a third thug to get behind him and stab him in the shoulder, the sharp blade passing through his cloak and piercing his thick skin.

Goris roared - a yell of anger that stunned the entire bar. He turned round, picked up the attacker with one hand and threw him across the room. The thug landed on one of the tables, snapping its legs off and sending it crashing to the ground.

Getting his breath back, Jacob decided that they needed to get out of here before things got really ugly. Barging his way through the mob and narrowly missing a punch aimed at the side of his head, he ran towards the door. With one last incapacitating punch at the final thug, Goris turned round and followed him – scattering the brawl like a battering ram. He ducked through the open door into the cold night air outside just as a bullet buried itself into the doorframe. As Jacob rushed for the edge of town with Goris following, he prayed that everyone was too stunned to give chase.


	6. Bittersweet Dreams

SIX – Bittersweet Dreams

Goris woke up in his quarters, and after a long yawn he got to his feet. After carefully pressing the light switch with a clawed thumb, he slid his arms through his robe's sleeves and settled it over his shoulders. Stretching his arms with another yawn, he wondered what today would bring.

Leaving his room, he walked down the long corridor with his footfalls echoing off the unspoiled walls. He was going to do some reading first before joining the others in the canteen. The elevator doors opened, the large "13" engraved on its surface splitting in half to reveal its interior. Stepping inside, Goris marvelled at what a feat of engineering it was. Was there anything humans couldn't build?

After exiting the elevator, he made his way towards the library. On his way there he passed the canteen windows, where Goris saw human and Deathclaw alike conversing together over breakfast. He walked past a female Deathclaw, who smiled and waved at him, to which Goris smiled back. He had found himself growing very fond of her over the past few months, and he felt he had to say something to her about it before it was too late.

Turning the corner, he saw another Deathclaw at the other end of the corridor, who was giving a piggyback ride to a young human child. Valdis had saved her life from bandits the other week, and the two had become very close friends since. Goris had to smile to himself at the sight of the tiny human perched on top of his neck – to see Deathclaw and human playing together warmed his heart.

Goris arrived at the library to find it empty. Walking over to one of the bookshelves, he carefully took out a large book on electronics, walked across to one of the desks, and set to work. He pored over the pages filled with complicated equations and circuit diagrams, completely drawn in by them. He never fully understood his fascination of all things human - while his brothers and sisters chose to distance themselves from their communities as much as possible out of fear of persecution, Goris was the opposite. He embraced their culture, achievements and their way of life - and hoped that someday his species and theirs would put aside their differences and co-exist peacefully. He was still young, still innocent. He didn't realise the true extent of the enmity towards his race.

He was tackling a particularly difficult equation when the library door suddenly opened, rising up through the ceiling with a whirring sound. In stepped a Deathclaw that promptly walked over to where Goris was sitting.

"Hey Goris." said the Deathclaw as he sat down next to him, and shook his head in amusement when he saw what Goris was reading. "You are too smart for your own good, you know? Do you even understand all this?" he said, jokingly.

Goris smiled. "Some of it, at least." he replied, somewhat shyly. "It's good to see you, Daan."

Daan was his best friend, having quickly become inseparable since infancy, and even through captivity. Goris' trust in him knew no bounds.

"Likewise, Goris. I was wondering if you would like to join us for breakfast?"

"Yes, of course!" Goris replied, enthusiastically. Yes, going to the library at the start of the day was a reclusive move indeed, but he preferred having some time to himself every morning. It allowed him to get his thoughts together.

"Alright, let's get going." said Daan, standing up and waiting for Goris as he put the book away. Exiting the library, they had only travelled a few steps when they came across an elderly human walking in the opposite direction. He regarded the pair with distrustful eyes as they approached him.

"Good morning, Dave." greeted Goris, cheerfully. "How is your medication?"

The human squirmed slightly. "I stopped taking it." he suddenly said, defiantly.

"And why would you do that?" replied Goris, puzzled.

"I know you're trying to fatten me up." He said, looking up at Goris, cynicism apparent on his weathered face. "And just so you know, I will probably taste better if I was leaner."

In an instant, Goris' confusion turned into hilarity, and he had to fight back laughter with all of his effort. "Don't worry, human." grinned Daan, obviously in the same situation. "Things will get better." He added, nodding while patting him on the head.

As soon as they had turned the corner the pair of them burst into suppressed laughter. "Silly human!" chortled Daan, shaking his head in amusement. "What is wrong with him anyway?" he asked once he had composed himself.

"He is suffering from depression, or so it seems." said Goris, smiling. "I think the medication must be working if he can come up with jokes like that!"

"Yeah, you're probably right." beamed Daan as they entered the canteen.

The pair sat down and started chatting together with a Deathclaw called Xarn. He was something of the pack veteran, with numerous scars and a broken horn to show for it. He had pulled Goris out of many a dangerous situation before, and he was pleased to be talking with him today.

"Ah - good morning, Gruthar." said Xarn at the Deathclaw that had appeared over Goris' shoulder.

"Good morning, Xarn." He returned with a booming voice. "Could I have a word with you in private, please?" he said to Goris, lowering his voice – although that didn't make much difference. This one was immense, even by Deathclaw standards.

"Of course, Gruthar." said Goris, confused. Gruthar was the pack alpha as well as his own father - he knew him well enough to know that this was strange behaviour coming from him. Goris gave the pair of them a quick nod before standing up to follow Gruthar out of the room.

He followed Gruthar to a nearby storage room, where he motioned for Goris to sit down. Goris sat down on a nearby container, deeply puzzled.

"Goris, we need to talk." said Gruthar, setting his huge form down next to him.

"Of course, what do you want to talk about?" this was not the Gruthar he knew at all.

"Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?" he replied.

"Yes, many times - why ask that now?"

"I won't last forever, Goris. It makes me content with the thought that someday you would be there to take my place, that there would be a future for our species. You cannot imagine how much joy that thought brings."

"I... Don't know what to say." said Goris, staring down at his feet - deeply moved by his father's words. Gruthar was right; he was a likely candidate for a future alpha male. However, he found filling his father's shoes a daunting task - How could he possibly hold himself responsible for all these people? Compared to Gruthar, he was a weakling.

He looked back up again as Gruthar rested his hand on his shoulder, their eyes meeting.

"I'm proud of you."

* * *

><p>Jacob and Goris had spent the night in an abandoned trailer park on the edge of Nipton, not daring to stay any closer for fear of people demanding reprisal. Jacob sat on the cold metal floor of the trailer they had chosen, looking through his pip-boy and shivering - their shelter hardly offered any protection from the deep cold of the night. He put down the computer and looked across at the sleeping Goris. Thankfully the knife didn't sever any major veins, nothing a stimpak couldn't fix. However, Goris was more concerned about the damage to his cloak than any actual damage to himself; He had shrugged it off and curled up in the corner, still wearing his robe in an attempt to keep warm.<p>

He must have moved about in the night, as he was now lying on his back, his horned head propped up against the wall. "That's the second time he has saved my skin." Jacob thought. Goris twitched a few times in his sleep, subconsciously moving his arms into a more protective position. Here he looked strangely vulnerable, in stark contrast to his display of strength from yesterday evening. "Better wake him up and get going."

"Goris, wake up!" said Jacob, firmly patting him on the shoulder.

He woke with a start, initially disoriented - but soon stiffened, stretching his muscles with a quiet grunt. "Good morning." he replied, and shivered slightly. He then rose to his feet, straightening out his robe as he did so. Jacob noticed that Goris had a very unusual expression on his face but couldn't work out what it meant. There were occasions where he displayed human facial expressions, but this was not one of them.

"What's up?" Jacob asked.

"Nothing." replied Goris after a pause, the expression fading from his lizard-like features.

"Well, we had better get moving to Searchlight." said Jacob, remembering the events of yesterday. The quicker they could get away from Nipton, the better.

"Yes, that might be a good idea."

"Thank you for saving me again." said Jacob, scratching the back of his head and looking at the floor.

"You don't have to thank me; although I am sorry I resorted to violence so harshly. Those men were too intoxicated, too stupid and too proud to reason with." replied Goris, completely sincere.

Jacob laughed. "Yeah, I suppose ignoring you was a pretty stupid move."

"Indeed!" said Goris, with a grin. Jacob was glad he had Goris to watch out for him.


	7. Searchlight

SEVEN - Searchlight

The beginning of the journey east towards Searchlight was rather uneventful, but once they crossed the border into Nevada things started to get hilly. The highway cut a valley through the hills, which occasionally became very steep on either side. After so much time in the completely flat desert, Jacob couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. They carried on until they found themselves at the other side of the ridge - the seemingly endless expanse of desert greeting them once more. The highway soon met a junction, and the pair continued east – they would head north eventually, but Jacob wanted to visit Searchlight first.

They arrived there around noon, and were greeted with an unusual sight. Jacob had been told that Searchlight was just any other town, but wherever he looked he could make out NCR uniforms. Brahmin-driven carts full of equipment were being moved around under heavy NCR escort. Mechanics with the two-headed bear logo on their jumpsuits were busy at work installing laser turrets that would guard the entrance of town, while troopers laid down sandbag walls.

Jacob wandered closer with Goris at his side. He needed to ask someone just what the hell was going on. As they walked into town, several NCR personnel gave them odd looks, but nobody challenged them. Jacob had taken a few more steps when he heard a commotion further up the street.

"Get the hell off me!" yelled a female figure as it was dragged out of a nearby house by a pair of NCR troopers. She was struggling and kicking as hard as she could, having been pried from the doorframe. Managing to get to her feet, she struggled against their grip towards the house again, but was promptly brought to the floor. Having given up struggling, the troopers let go of her and walked back to the house, closing the door behind them.

Having witnessed the entire incident, Jacob trotted over to the now-kneeling figure – wondering what just happened. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"No." She said, on the verge of tears. "I've just been evicted, what does it look like?" she muttered, then stared at her knees.

"I am really sorry, let me help you up." said Jacob, holding out his hand. The woman stared at it for a moment and then took it, allowing herself to be helped to her feet. She then began to look afraid, which was not helped when she saw Goris standing behind Jacob's shoulder.

"Why did they evict you?" said Jacob, in his best comforting voice.

"They are garrisoning the town against the legion and the brotherhood. They are kicking out everyone." She said, tears in her eyes.

Jacob stiffened at the mention of the brotherhood of steel. He did not know anything about this "legion", but it was the brotherhood that had killed his brother, the "steel plague" that had threatened the lives of each and every NCR citizen back west - Knowing that they were over here as well made him bristle with anger.

"...Are you okay?" she said fearfully, noticing his grim facial expression.

Jacob tried to find an appropriate answer, but Goris eventually answered the question for him. "His brother was involved in the war."

The woman flinched slightly at the sound of Goris' voice – but quickly composed herself. "I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"...It's alright, it was a long time ago." said Jacob. "What's your name?"

"Kate."

"I'm Jacob, this is Goris." he said, smiling.

"Hi." said Kate, giving a nervous wave towards Goris' colossal form.

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Catherine." said Goris, trying his best to be as friendly as possible.

"...I don't know what to do." Kate admitted, after a pause.

"You could come with us?" Jacob offered. He wasn't sure how Goris would take it, but he wasn't going to stand watching someone get left for the vultures and not doing anything about it.

"I guess I don't have much choice." she said, quietly.

"We'll see what we can do." he reassured her.

The group quickly found that it was no use even staying in Searchlight, as it had effectively been turned into a military camp. Most places were off-limits, and they were becoming conscious of the fact that they were making a lot of people suspicious. Deciding to leave Searchlight entirely, they started moving north.

"How long had you been living in Searchlight for?" Jacob asked Kate.

"About 2 years." she said shortly. "Most of us were miners, some gold in the mines nearby. I was living comfortably until the NCR arrived."

Jacob was immediately reminded of Redding, a small gold mining town in California. He doubted the NCR took Searchlight purely for defending against attackers, he had a feeling the gold had something to do with it – the NCR had annexed Redding to provide them with currency. Although it was good business for the miners, they were bogged down with the constant taxes and regulations that came with it. Although Jacob was a proud NCR citizen, he was beginning to see how oppressive it could be to people who just wanted to be independent.

As they continued walking, Jacob noticed the grip of a 9mm pistol poking out of one of her pockets. "You have a gun?" he asked. Things could have gotten ugly if she had used it earlier.

"Err… yes; I grabbed it before I got kicked out. Anything could be out there, you know?"

"True…" agreed Jacob. "You're not much of a traveller, I take it?"

"No, I'm not too keen on risking my life while I can be living safely at home."

"Don't worry." reassured Goris. "You are safe with us." Kate still didn't look completely convinced, however – she still seemed to be intimidated by Goris, and Jacob wasn't surprised. Not being able to see his face with that hood up could intimidate anyone. But Jacob guessed that he didn't really have a choice, as the alternative would be a lot worse.

A short while passed, and Kate couldn't hold in her curiosity any longer. "Goris, why do you wear that cloak?" she asked, slightly nervously. Jacob decided to keep quiet; he wasn't sure what Goris wanted.

Goris hesitated for a moment. "I do not want to frighten you."

"Surely whatever it is, it can't be that bad." said Kate, puzzled.

Goris snorted, as he always did when he was amused. "I can assure you that it can."

Kate did not relent. "Come on, you can trust me."

Jacob could see Goris squirm under his cloak; it was obvious he was uncomfortable with this conversation. "Very well." He said after a long pause, and stopped walking. Goris then raised his clawed hands, exposing them as the sleeves fell under the influence of gravity. He then slowly pulled the hood back, revealing his reptilian, horned head to Kate – who staggered backwards as if physically hit by the sight.

"You're a Deathclaw!" she said, incredulous.

"I think that would be obvious." said Goris, with a playful edge to his voice.

"Sorry." said Kate, regaining her composure. "I have never seen a Deathclaw this close before."

"Then I suppose you are lucky." he replied, grinning.

"Yeah..." said Kate, noticing the fearsome expression on his face. "I didn't know they could talk, either."

"He doesn't bite!" joked Jacob, earning another amused snort from Goris. He didn't even have enough room in his mouth for his teeth. Bad jokes aside however, it at least seemed to make Kate feel a little better.

"So, what was this 'Legion' you mentioned earlier?" Jacob asked her. He had heard the name mentioned before a few times on the radio when he was in Primm - it must be pretty big to give the NCR a reason to garrison an entire town.

Kate shot him a surprised look. "Caesar's Legion. You haven't heard of them before?"

Jacob shook his head. "I have only been in the Mojave for a few days. I guess they are pretty big?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Some big tribe from across the Colorado – likes to ambush NCR caravans travelling along the highway. At least that's what I've been told."

"And to think the NCR didn't have enough on its plate already." said Jacob, thinking aloud. "I guess it's their fault for not solving problems at home first, though."

He was then reminded of the fact that it was now far past lunchtime, and of how hungry he was. Not having a chance to resupply since Primm, he didn't have any food left on him. Most of it was because of Goris – since they had met Jacob's food reserves had fallen dramatically fast. He didn't blame him though; he _was_ a super-predator after all - despite his claims to the contrary.

"Speaking of which, I'm starving." Jacob admitted. "Anyone up for some hunting?" he said, drawing his pistol from his holster. He noticed Goris perk up behind him, and Jacob smiled to himself – Goris wasn't fooling anyone.

"Are you sure you aren't going to get us all killed?" replied Kate. Jacob understood her reluctance - Bighorners could get incredibly dangerous if a whole herd is provoked.

"He is an excellent marksman." said Goris, reassuring her. Jacob smiled inwardly at the compliment – it was hard to imagine him criticizing anyone.

And at that, the group of them wandered off the road and into the rocky scrubland that bordered it. Aided by Goris' exceptional sense of smell, they soon found a lone bighorner standing in a clearing. It was grazing on some shrivelled-up grass, completely unaware that it had been spotted. Jacob however, noticed a problem.

"I don't think I could hit it from here." he whispered suddenly. The short barrel of his pistol undermined his marksmanship, making such a long shot revolve purely around sheer luck.

"So much for an excellent marksman."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "This pistol is no sniper rifle, Kate."

"Maybe I could help?" said Goris from behind him. Looking round, Jacob could see the eagerness in his beady eyes – to be honest, Jacob wasn't sure why he didn't think of that before.

He couldn't turn down the offer even if he tried. "Go ahead." He replied with a smile, nodding his head towards the bighorner standing in the clearing.

Without further ado, Goris straightened up, letting his robe fall to the floor and revealing his Deathclaw form. He then set off towards the prey at a run, which then quickened into a sprint as he built up momentum – his powerful digitigrade legs launching him forwards with every step. Damn, that bugger was fast.

The Bighorner noticed, and quickly started to run away as fast as it could – narrowly missing a lunge from Goris, who managed to only slash at its side with an outstretched arm. It wasn't so lucky on his second attempt though, as Goris hit it sideways-on with a bone-shattering tackle – sending both of them crashing to the ground. Goris then wrapped his arms around the struggling beast's neck and promptly broke it with a loud popping sound.

Getting to his feet, Goris seemed pleased with himself. "Contact sports, I love it!" he said with glee towards the two figures trotting towards him.

"I guess he has a reason to." Jacob said to Kate, with Goris' heavy robe slung over his shoulder and dragging along the ground. Damn thing could be used to make a tent.

The group set up camp outside a nearby shack, and Jacob enjoyed the largest meal he had eaten in weeks. Even Goris was full by the time they had finished. He made a mental note to take the leftovers with them later.

"How long have you been travelling for?" Kate asked him from across the campfire, the light reflecting off her face in the semi-darkness of the evening.

"A very long time." replied Jacob. "I could never really stay in one place, I came here from California."

"Really? My parents came here from the Hub – what part of California are you from?" she said, eager to hear more.

"Shady sands." said Jacob with a smile, lifting a bottle of beer to his lips.

"Ah, that's pretty far away, then."

"Where did you say you were from again, Goris?" said Jacob, looking across to the Deathclaw, who was sat down with them.

He didn't answer for a moment, and Jacob wondered if this was another one of his secrets. "Vault 13." he said, bluntly.

Jacob choked on his beer. "A vault? Are you joking?"

"Do I make jokes very often?" said Goris, a weak smile on his face. "In all seriousness, my pack did indeed move in there at one point."

Jacob was intrigued – for all these years he had been completely unaware that there was a sub-species of Deathclaw that was capable of rational thought, and it was one hell of a shock. "Just how many of you are there?" he asked.

Goris sighed. "I honestly do not know anymore."

Jacob took another sip of his beer, taking a long look at Goris - considerably concerned. He already knew that Deathclaws were pack animals by nature, so finding Goris on his own was a little strange.

Shortly afterwards Goris retreated into the shack to get some rest, leaving the pair of them outside. "That's quite sad, not knowing where your family is." said Kate after a few moments, staring at the door that Goris had just closed shut.

"I think we have something in common – I don't know where half of my family is, either." replied Jacob.

"Yeah, but at least you can make friends. Goris is a Deathclaw! If you weren't there with him when we met in Searchlight, I would have ran."

"You have a point, there." said Jacob. Sure, he may look as mean as hell, and undoubtedly had the potential to be very mean indeed - but he chose not to be. He took the word 'misunderstood' to a new level.

"And anyway, where exactly are we headed?" asked Kate, quizzical. "I guess it doesn't matter, though. It's actually more exciting this way." she added, stopping herself.

Jacob quickly shot her a bemused look. "I thought you weren't the traveller type?" he replied, a hint of victory in his voice.

"Who says people can't change?" countered Kate, with a smug smile.

"Okay, you win." laughed Jacob. "I actually don't know where we are going – I arrived in the Mojave looking for work, now it isn't just me anymore."

"That can't be a bad thing though, can it?"

"No, I guess not." said Jacob, grinning. He was never one to wander around aimlessly before, and he was now kicking himself for it.

The pair spent a few moments sat in silence, until Kate suddenly shivered violently. "It's getting cold now, I'd better go to bed as well." she said while standing up.

"I'll join you." agreed Jacob, who also straightened up and followed her – leaving the fire to slowly die in the cold dusk air.


	8. Old Wounds

EIGHT – Old Wounds

"Alright, now it's your turn." said Goris, after confidently moving one of the delicate figurines across the chequered board.

Daan said nothing, still scrutinising the board below in deep concentration. They were only in the opening stages of the game, and things were already not looking good for him. In a way, Goris felt bad for not cutting him enough slack; Daan was not as experienced as he was. The fact that Goris was far smarter than him didn't help either, although Goris wouldn't admit it himself.

After hesitantly raising his hand over the board, Daan finally made his move. "Let's see what that does." he said, leaning back to watch Goris' response, which only took a few seconds.

"Checkmate!" Goris announced, enthusiastically setting the final piece down. "Scholar's mate." he added with a grin.

"Check…? Oh." Daan replied, spotting his mistake. "I thought those could move vertically." he said, pointing at one of his own pieces.

Goris shook his head. "No, bishops only move diagonally; sorry for not explaining it clearly enough."

"It's not your fault… I confused them with something else." Daan modestly replied. "It was only a matter of time anyway; you are too clever for me." he admitted with a nonchalant shrug.

"Intelligence is not everything, Daan."

"Then it is a lot, at the very least." Daan countered. "I would love to be able to understand all these human creations."

"Is that a good thing, though?" Goris replied with a sigh. Humans seemed to find the sight of him playing chess rather amusing, for some reason. They truly were very strange creatures - fascinating, but strange. However, did that mean that by learning their culture, he was strange himself? Most definitely.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… who has a mate, and who hasn't?" Goris replied, awkwardly opening his arms as if it was obvious. Females valued physical prowess over intelligence – Goris had the wrong combination.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Gruthar would just pick one for you when the time comes."

Goris gave a dismissive snort; he should be able to do this himself, not rely on his father to bail him out. If Gruthar, by some mistake, really saw him as the next-in-line for alpha, being seen as either complacent or inept would be the least he could afford. "I'd rather be with someone I actually like."

Daan shot him a quizzical look. "What's 'liking' someone have to do with anything?"

"Never mind." replied Goris, wishing he hadn't spoken. Gruthar's overinflated opinion of him would likely net him the 'best' choice… and he had half a mind not to complain. It was just the fact that he wasn't a fan of what he had come to call 'selective breeding' that had become prevalent in his species' society, to say the least. Humans only used the term to describe the breeding of animals; was that really what he wanted to think of himself?

"You always have to be different, don't you?" said Daan, eyeing Goris with a bemused expression on his face; to which Goris only squirmed.

"Alright, I can see you are uncomfortable with this." he continued in a more serious tone, carefully choosing his words. "…When you say that 'you would rather be with someone you like', I assume you have someone in mind?"

Goris gave a hesitant nod. "Virak."

"Alright, there's a start. Does she know?"

"No." replied Goris, shaking his head.

Daan paused, scrutinising him carefully. "You _are_ the alpha's son, right?"

"Exactly." said Goris with a snort. "You wouldn't know it just by looking at me."

"I don't need to look at you to know." Daan countered. "Gruthar talks about you all the time; everyone knows. If you really are his son, why don't you act like it?"

"Honestly, Goris." he continued with a good-natured grin, incredulously shaking his head. "You don't know how lucky you are."

Goris absent-mindedly twirled a chess piece between his claws, thinking over his words. "Why aren't I up to my neck in them, then?"

Daan frowned, not understanding. "The male chooses the female, that's the way it has always been."

Goris rolled his eyes. "Right, otherwise I doubt they would even approach me out of fear of my dance card being full." he replied, sarcastically.

"Dance card…?" Daan replied, before catching himself. "Look, all I am trying to say is that there is nothing to be afraid of. You just need to be more confident; what's the worst that can happen?"

"I get eaten." countered Goris, laughing.

"Well…" replied Daan, laughing in response. "I must admit, some of them are rather imposing, but I wouldn't go that far."

"Alright, alright; I think I get the message." said Goris with a fervent nod, eager to put the conversation behind him. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem, that's what friends are for!" replied Daan, as Goris rose to his feet. "Where are you going now?"

"Going to get some fresh air."

Daan gave an understanding nod. "Take your time, Goris."

Goris gave a relieved sigh as he left the room – that was a chess game that hadn't ended as expected, to put it bluntly.

He pondered over Daan's advice as he rode the elevator up. What should he say? How should he act? The voice of reason inside him said to just act normally, but he knew he was far from 'normal'.

"Where are you going, son?" called Gruthar as he made his way to the exit. Goris paused, slowly turning around. Goris always felt awkward when he called him that; it was a reminder of the expectations resting on his shoulders.

"Just getting some air." Goris replied, as innocently as possible. He followed Gruthar's head upwards as he was approached, trying to hide his uneasiness.

Gruthar slowly nodded, shrewdly eyeing Goris. "Mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all!" he replied, while giving an inward sigh; he couldn't hide a thing from Gruthar, no matter how hard he tried.

As they left the vault and entered the dark cave beyond, Goris couldn't help but notice Gruthar fidgeting as they walked along. He seemed tired, on edge; maybe nervous. For what reason, Goris didn't know, but it had been getting steadily worse lately. The symptoms weren't obvious by any means, but it was enough for Goris to notice the change from the proud, victorious Gruthar of old into what he was now; reserved and watchful.

"I understand these are trying times for you." said Gruthar once they stepped into the daylight, as Goris set himself down on a nearby boulder.

"You could say that." replied Goris, as Gruthar sat on the ground next to him; making sure they were both at eye level.

"And I also understand that you may not want to share your problems with me."

Goris shrugged. "I'm sure there are better ways to spend your time than spending it with me."

"No." replied Gruthar, shaking his head. "There are not."

Caving in with a sigh, Goris started to carefully plan his next words. "What exactly do you see in me, father?"

Gruthar leaned forwards, impulsively clacking his claws together. "Our future is uncertain. Humanity is the single biggest threat to the survival of our species, simply because of the fact that they may feel the same way about us. However, despite this fact, you leave the vault for extended periods of time to work alongside our supposed enemy. You have proved to my generation that this misunderstanding can indeed be overcome."

"What's more," he continued, his eyes fixed on Goris "You have my genes, my legacy. When my death comes, a certain inevitability, I will live on in you. I am not afraid to die."

"But I don't even look anything like you!" Goris interjected. He may have Gruthar's brains, but none of his brawn. And why was he even talking about death anyway? His beloved father's death was the last thing he wanted to think about.

"I am sure you are familiar with genetics?" Gruthar asked, to which Goris nodded. "You still inherit my genes, apparent or otherwise. They are simply waiting to get passed on to your children."

"But what do you want me to do?"

Gruthar hesitated before making his reply. "Leave the vault whenever the opportunity arises. As much as it pains me to encourage travelling such a dangerous place, staying here would be wasted potential for someone like you. Go far away, as far as the horizon; and take the seeds of our race with you."

"But I don't want to just leave you behind!" Goris protested. It wasn't that long ago that Gruthar would do anything to stop him _leaving_ the vault, now it was the exact opposite.

"I am not exiling you, Goris; you can return at any time you want. And anyway, I am not important anymore."

"Don't say that. What about…" Goris caught himself, convulsively searching for a reply. "…I think I love Virak." he confessed. "I want to spend time with her as well, if I can bring myself to talk to her…"

Gruthar nodded, although something told Goris it was forced. "It is entirely your choice; don't let me confuse your judgement."

"Virak was the person I was going to choose for you." he added with a ghost of a smile. "There is no need to push yourself so hard."

Goris was about to make a reply, but decided against it; he needed to think all of this over. What was Gruthar trying to say to him?

"Anyway, I am going to try and get some rest." said Gruthar at last, rising to his feet.

"I love you, father." said Goris, before Gruthar turned to leave.

"I love you too, son." he replied. "I am proud of you."

Goris decided not to follow him, instead watching the sun as it crawled across the sky towards the horizon. He made the most of the warmth while it lasted, because after all, how did one know when they would be watching the sunset for the final time?

In this twilight, Goris finally succumbed to the cold and headed inside. He gave a frustrated snort as he walked through the open vault door; it was just one difficult conversation after another today. Where else could he go to collect his thoughts?

"Library." mumbled Goris, as he thumbed the elevator down.

Once there, he took a seat at the back of the room and thought. He mulled over what both Daan and Gruthar had told him, and prepared himself for when the time came to talk to Virak.

Goris tapped his claws against the table, and sighed. How could he think through a mess of hormones, insecurity and the weight of a species that had been thrust upon him?

Eventually the time came when Goris realised that he was simply delaying what he had to do. Xarn, wherever he may be, had always told him that by procrastinating, he could only hope to achieve anything. Plucking up his courage, he made his way to the canteen –the unofficial meeting place of the vault.

Xarn's sudden disappearance was likely to be one of the reasons why Gruthar was so down lately. Nobody knew what happened to him; he was leading a patrol that had simply failed to return. Many believed that he was killed, although Goris was sceptical. Xarn was _incredibly_ tough; a trait that he had proven time and time again to seemingly cheat death. Goris frowned - maybe his old mentor's luck had finally run out?

"Ah, Goris!" called Daan from one end of the corridor. "I have been looking for you!"

"Did you try looking in the… library, perhaps?" Goris replied with a smirk.

"Actually, I thought you would have at least greeted Virak by now."

"I was on my way to do that now." admitted Goris, squirming with guilt.

Daan frowned. "Well… your human friend called to visit. He says he _really_ needs your help – his people have been captured by the Enclave."

Goris couldn't help but groan. This was it: the decision that Gruthar was talking about. Goris knew this was likely to be the last time that the opportunity to leave presented itself; it was either helping his friend, or staying with the comfort of his pack. He could never have prepared for so much, so soon.

"Just… tell him I'm doing some important research for the pack and I can't join him, alright?" said Goris after a painful pause, agitatedly waving him away.

"Alright." replied a concerned Daan, before walking past Goris to disappear round the corner. Goris felt a hideous pang of guilt at denying help to his friend – especially in a situation like that; he knew what the Enclave was capable of.

Forcing the feeling of selfishness aside, he reminded himself that he belonged here, with his pack. And besides, his friend probably didn't need his help at all; from Goris' experience, he could handle anything. Either way, he had a feeling they won't be seeing each other ever again.

It was while Goris was walking away, that he had a major case of déjà vu. He could have sworn he remembered choosing to help, but how was that even possible? Maybe all of the stress was playing tricks with his mind.

As he walked past the canteen windows set into the corridor wall, he managed to spot her with a quick glance. Firmly pressing the open button with his fist, he made his way into the canteen.

"Hello, Valdis, Virak, Sandy." said Goris, nodding to each in turn before taking a seat.

"Good evening, Goris!" said Valdis, in his usual, cheerful manner.

"Hello, Goris." replied Virak.

"Hey." said the small human girl sat next to Valdis, her feet dangling in the air below her seat. Comparing the human child and the adult Deathclaw through size, the effect was almost laughable; she was barely taller than his forearm!

"You wear funny clothes." she said, giggling.

Goris smiled. "Nothing else fits, I'm afraid."

"Why do you wear that robe anyway, Goris?" asked Virak.

Goris automatically shrugged his shoulders. "I've got into the habit of wearing it. In the wasteland, people usually don't appreciate my appearance." Not that he needed it anymore, leaving the vault on his own was too dangerous and he had just ditched his travelling companion.

"What does that mean?" replied Sandy.

"It means that people see him as bad, and want to hurt him." said Valdis.

She made no answer, seeming to understand the reason why.

"Just how rough is it out there?" asked Virak, eyeing Goris with interest.

"Very, I think is the answer to that!" he replied, laughing. "I've had a few narrow escapes. There are settlements scattered around, though; there's this big one by the coast."

Goris told the group about the many human places in the wasteland, much to the interest of both Valdis and Virak. Goris felt his confidence grow as he found that he had completely captivated them; maybe his scholarly nature was not so bad, after all? The conversation only stalled when he noticed that Sandy had begun to doze off, resting her head against Valdis' arm.

"Ha, it's past her bedtime now." noted Valdis, bemusedly pointing with his free hand. "Her mother will most likely be looking for her."

As if on cue, her mother entered the canteen, indeed looking for her. Valdis gave a humorous "what did I tell you?" expression as she approached.

"Sandy...!" she called, prompting Sandy to snap awake. "I've been looking for you!"

"Mommy…!" she replied with a sigh.

"Sorry about this." apologised the mother.

"What's there to be sorry about, Ariel?" asked a nonplussed Valdis, as Sandy was gently pulled to her feet.

"I thought she was bothering you."

"Nah, not a chance." replied Valdis, smiling. "Go on, you little monster, you!" he joked, as Sandy was escorted from the room.

"She likes you." noted Virak, once the door had closed.

Valdis shrugged. "She's always been like that, ever since we saved them from bandits."

"I… wasn't able to save her father, though." he added, remorsefully.

"Maybe she sees you as the father she lost? She is still very young; I doubt she understands what has happened."

"Maybe…" he replied, scratching his chin in thought. "I had never looked at in that way before."

"Anyway," he suddenly said, rising to his feet. "I had better be getting some rest myself."

"See you tomorrow, Valdis." replied Goris.

"Likewise, Goris. Goodnight, you two." said Valdis with a wave, before leaving the pair alone in the now-silent canteen.

"I should be going as well." said Virak, beginning to rise.

"Wait, there is something I want to say." interjected Goris, restraining her with a hand on her shoulder and standing up himself. "I came down here for a reason, Virak; just to talk to you."

"Well, thank you!" she replied, flattered.

"In all honesty, I have wanted to say this for months." Goris continued, hesitantly. "Only I was not brave enough…"

Virak maintained eye contact; she knew what he was getting at.

"I'm just going to say it." said Goris, shaking himself out of his stupor. "I love…"

BANG!

The door to the canteen was suddenly blown inwards by a tremendous explosion, pounding Goris' eardrums and rattling the brain inside of his skull. And to his further astonishment, several ruby beams of light pierced the acrid black smoke and bathed the room with their light.

"…You…" whispered Goris, as the limp form of Virak fell into his arms through a thin veil of red mist; blood pouring profusely from the wounds that weren't cauterized properly from the laser fire.

Staggering backwards with the weight of Virak's corpse against him and with the smell of burning flesh in his nose, he just managed to notice a trio of jet-black armoured figures pour into the room before hitting the ground hard.

Winded by the fall, Goris snarled in pure, blue fury as he disentangled himself, scrambled to his feet and _charged_ at the nearest figure. Goris' mind told to lunge, except the strength was no longer there. Instead, it was made aware of a gaping hole that had suddenly appeared in the centre of his upper torso.

Clutching at an area of his chest that simply no longer existed anymore, Goris fell to the ground again and slid several yards on his shoulder. Desperately scratching at the polished floor with an outstretched arm and still clutching his chest with the other, he saw the figures approach as the blood spurted from between his fingers and spread across his body. Behind the pounding in his ears, he could hear the screams of his pack as they shared the same fate as himself.

"Any last words, freak?" barked the nearest, dripping with hatred. It pinned him down with an armoured boot and pressed its weapon against the side of Goris' head; the still-hot muzzle searing his not-so-thick hide with a sickening sound, causing smoke to curl past his horns. Through the pain and blood loss, Goris tried to yell the most vicious insult he could think of; but no words came out.

"You aren't fooling anybody, this time." said the figure after what seemed like an eternity, before everything flashed to white.

* * *

><p>Goris suddenly found himself back in the present with a violent spasm, awake in the cramped confines of their shack with every muscle in his body seized solid; staring up at the ceiling with his jaw locked in a silent scream. It had happened again.<p>

Fearing the hideous smell of burnt flesh in his nostrils, he instead smelled the scent of fresh wood: he had reduced the nearby floorboards to splinters. By sheer chance, he appeared to be the only one awake.

As his muscles relaxed and the pounding in his ears abated, his heart began to ache; each heartbeat stabbing at his insides like a thousand needles. He was too late. If only he _knew_… Maybe then he would still have everyone… Instead, he was left as the very definition of 'alone', along with all that could have been.

Virak. In truth, he never got to confess his love for her; he had instead chosen to leave her behind, oblivious to her impending doom until it was too late. Maybe if he wasn't such a coward, maybe they would have enjoyed at least some time together.

Goris shook his head and sighed - this was too much. He looked across the room at the sleeping forms of Jacob and Kate, and another flood of emotion washed over him - He loved them dearly and felt proud to be seen with them, despite the fact that they weren't even like him. They were now the closest thing to a pack that he had, and his pack mentality dictated that he should protect them until his dying breath. He only wondered if they actually understood this – being human, they don't share the same bonds that his people shared.

Goris then thought of his father. He had supported the weight of a species upon his shoulders, held himself purely responsible for his pack and pulled it through thick and thin – despite the burden that it had on his mind. All of this was done, only for him to die in the end, his hopes, dreams and responsibilities shattered into pieces like so much porcelain; too small and fragile to put back together again. His pack was destroyed, leaving Goris the sole survivor - a tortured soul in a kingdom of ruins. Had he done what Gruthar would have wanted? Goris had tried to follow in his father's footsteps as best he could, but in the end he would never know.

"I'm proud of you."

Goris sighed again and rested his head against the wall, his heart bleeding. He needed some air. Standing up as quietly as his frame would allow, he walked across the small room and opened the door.

He looked up at the moon, its phosphorescence coating the landscape with an eerie light. He tried to think of it as a sphere millions of miles away, rather than a two-dimensional cut-out in the sky. He had read that humans had managed to send people there with giant rockets, and he believed it - the technology that sent mankind to the moon was the same technology that created him... The same technology that destroyed him.

Goris pondered, his mind wrapped with questions he knew would never be answered while a blur of light started to appear on the horizon. Why did his pack deserve its fate? Would his species ever become anything more than a failed Enclave experiment? By being forged in the furnace of war, was conflict his only purpose… his destiny?

More importantly, why was he even _alive_? Ever since that fateful day his heart had continued to pump stale blood through his veins. Did he really belong in this world? What he did know was that he needed to get this out - if that failed, _tear_ it out - before it consumed him entirely. Maybe it was too late.

Jacob had woken up, and immediately noticed the absence of the deep rumble of Goris' breathing. Peering through the gloom, he could see that Goris wasn't curled up in the corner as he always was. Waking up Kate, he took a look outside to find him deep in thought, with his back to him.

"Are you okay?" said Jacob, approaching Goris' silhouette with Kate following behind him.

"Do you remember what I told you about the Enclave?" replied Goris, slowly turning his head towards them.

"Yes, what about them?" asked Jacob, although he realised what was coming.

"They hunted us down after we escaped." Goris sighed and looked at the ground. "I returned home to find my pack dead."

Ouch. Jacob had lost relatives before, but not all of them at once. He doubted he could even begin to imagine the grief Goris must have felt - that he was still feeling, even after all these years.

Jacob was struggling for a reply until Kate hurried past him, and wrapped her arms around Goris' waist. The huge beast seemed startled for a moment, but then lowered itself to its knees and awkwardly returned the gesture, gently pressing Kate into his chest - the moonlight throwing shadows off his muscle-bound form. Damndest thing Jacob had ever seen – who knew the big guy could be so sensitive?

"I'm so sorry." said Kate into Goris' shoulder.

"You are all I have left."

"Easy..." said Jacob in a comforting voice, putting an arm across his back.

As he watched human and Deathclaw embrace each other under the dawn sky, Jacob felt ashamed to be human. To think that his kind had brutally driven such a proud being into the dirt had moved him deeply - but of course, this was the human race he was thinking about. It had nearly destroyed itself in nuclear fire, so it wouldn't come as a surprise to think that other, 'lesser' species had suffered at its hands as well. Goris may be a Deathclaw, but over the past few days he had become so much more... a friend. He was just as human as anyone else.

"I am going back to sleep." Goris finally announced.

"After all that?" Jacob asked, considerably worried.

"…Yes." he uttered, before turning to head back to their decrepit cabin.

As he curled up on the now-ruined floor, Goris actually felt relief. All of these emotions had been left bottled up inside of him for an entire generation, and Goris thought it would stay that way until the time merciful death took him. But they weren't dragging him to the ground anymore; they were now bearable.

He knew he couldn't stop his pack's screaming, but the confession of their deaths eased his troubled sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes<em>

_Alright, I have finally gone back and made a rewrite of this chapter, since the original conflicted with the flow of Goris' story arc. For new and returning readers alike, I would like to make an appeal for feedback: I would love to hear any critique you can give me, and I really appreciate it. (sorry)_

_And for returning readers, I would like to apologise for being lax on updates recently. I have been spending some time to consolidate where the story should go, as well as keeping on top of my college work. If you enjoy reading this story, do not worry because I intend on finishing it to the end; however far away that may turn out to be._


	9. Ambush

NINE – Ambush

The group continued to trudge northwards, the mood having lightened considerably from earlier. They chatted together as they walked along the deserted highway 95, in high spirits. Jacob was looking forward to what he may find next - he had never had a better sense of adventure back where he came from, it was all very exciting. Goris had cheered up immensely; Jacob guessed that he never had anyone to confess his feelings to until now. However, there was still a very faint steely quality to his eyes that remained, and Jacob guessed it would probably stay that way until the very end.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, Goris" said Kate, after a brief lapse of conversation.

"Thank you, Kate." replied Goris, and from what Jacob could tell, he took it to heart. "If it is any consolation, there may be others out there somewhere."

"Really?" asked Jacob.

"Yeah, I did have offspring afterwards." replied Goris. Jacob had to inwardly laugh at his strange choice of words – he had always been very formal, but recently he was starting to talk like a normal person. Jacob guessed that sort of thing happened through lack of social contact.

Jacob noticed a problem. "But how is that possible?" he asked, cautiously.

"Err…" hesitated Goris, thinking of a way to phrase what he was about to say next. "We are biologically compatible with 'normal' Deathclaws, and it is a process I do not intend to repeat; do I have to go into details?" he finally said, humorously.

"No, not really." replied Jacob, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. It must have been degrading as hell, but Jacob guessed it was a matter of survival. "How did you know that your children will be like you, though?"

"Every single one of them shared my intelligence, for some reason. I don't know if it was down to plain luck or something else." he replied. "Do we really have to continue talking about this?"

"Funny, I never knew Deathclaws could be so embarrassed about something."

"I never knew humans could ask so many questions." Goris countered, with his trademark grin.

They continued to share stories and chat until they passed an old car that was sitting in a pool of very shallow, stagnant water. "Look at that." said Kate, pointing. "Must have gone off the road."

Goris seemed to take an interest in this, as he broke from the group and beckoned them to follow him. "This brings back memories." he said to nobody in particular as he made his way towards the wreck.

"What is it?" said Jacob, bemused. Very strange for him to take an interest in a piece of junk like that. Jacob didn't pay any attention to the pools of water, as his trusty leather boots were so thick they had withstood years of punishment. He could see Kate skirting around them out of the corner of his eye, her footwear not so adequate.

"I used to travel with a human a long time ago; He used to own one of these machines... A Highwayman, I think he called it."

"A _working _car?" replied Jacob, incredulous. "How did he get that?"

"But how did you even fit inside it?" asked Kate, before Goris had the chance to answer.

"I sat on the trunk." replied Goris with a smirk, happily reminiscing. "I cannot remember how he came to possess it, however." Opening the wreck's trunk lid, Goris accidentally snapped the supports, which had become rusted through after years of disuse. Shrugging slightly, he rested the lid against the car and observed the trunk's contents. "He did that too." he noted.

The trunk had a fair number of microfusion and small energy cells stored away inside it. "What is the point of that?" asked Kate.

"They can be used as a form of fuel. After we ran out in the desert on one occasion, my friend decided to keep a reserve in case it happened again. I would presume it was common practice."

"Wow, my uncle used to have a motorcycle." said Kate. "It was an old one though - he kept it fuelled on alcohol." Kate smiled to herself, imagining the freedom a set of wheels could give.

"What can you tell me about this person?" Jacob asked Goris, keen to hear more.

"He was a tribal called 'the chosen one'. He arrived at our vault looking for a Garden Of Eden Creation Kit to save his village, and my pack was happy to provide. However, shortly afterwards we discovered that the Enclave had abducted his people, and destroyed mine..." Goris trailed off, but then resumed with an air of pride in his voice. "We swore an oath of vengeance against the Enclave, and eventually destroyed them."

"_You_ destroyed the Enclave?" Jacob repeated, dumbstruck. What a strange twist of fate to land such a distinguished individual in his company. If it had come from anyone else, he would not have believed them.

Goris seemed flattered for a moment. "I wouldn't say that, my friend deserves the credit." he replied, sheepishly.

The group moved on, but barely an hour had passed until they could hear gunshots further up the road. Rushing closer, they found a caravan that seemed to have fallen into some kind of ambush. Upon closer inspection, Jacob could make out the NCR uniforms of the caravan guards taking cover behind the highway dividers, and instinctively reached for his pistol - he wasn't going to stand by and watch.

"Stay here!" he shouted out towards Kate and Goris before sprinting to the caravan's aid - it would be too dangerous to bring them along. As he got closer, he felt a bullet hit a nearby concrete divider with an alarming cracking sound. Closing the distance between himself and the nearest NCR soldier with his head down, he tried to get an idea of what was going on.

"Need a hand?" called Jacob over the racket of automatic weapons and yelled orders, taking cover behind the rusted hulk of a car.

"They're across the road, among the boulders!" the soldier shouted back. Jacob felt seriously ill-equipped; his pistol was all he had. Still, he wasn't going to let that stop him. Peeking up from cover, he began to tag targets. Around four of them were ducking in and out of cover; all of them were oddly dressed, wearing a strange kind of plumed armour in red and black colours. Something told him they were much more than just a band of crazies though, they seemed to emanate a purpose and a sense of professionalism.

Not that it was going to matter in the next few moments anyway. Jumping out of cover with all his concentration focused down his gunsight, he let loose his first shots. He cursed at the inaccuracy of his pistol at such an extreme range, but it looked like he got a good hit on one of them, who doubled back as the round penetrated his torso armour.

Jacob ducked under cover just in time as a retaliatory hail of bullets ricocheted off the car, gritting his teeth as the metallic sound reverberated inside his head. Damn, these guys were good.

As he rose again after reloading, he saw one of the aggressors get hit in the arm just as he was firing himself, letting his shots go wide into the air and dramatically falling backwards. Jacob emptied another cylinder towards the attackers, and out of sheer luck managed to hit one directly in the forehead, the .223 round passing straight through to the other side, decorating the boulder directly behind with blood and brain matter.

It was obvious that the attackers were outmatched in terms of skill and numbers, but they still refused to give up. "They must have some kind of death wish." thought Jacob as he reloaded, the adrenaline pumping through his veins and making his hands shake. Jacob cursed as his beloved pistol broke, the cylinder refusing to close. Despite his best attempts to fix it, all he could do was sit behind cover as the battle came to an end.

"Man down!" yelled one of the troopers as Jacob got his breath back. Getting to his feet, he could see the figures of Goris and Kate rushing towards him as he trotted over to the downed soldier. He was in serious pain, having taken several bullets to the shoulder - but it looked like his armour stopped the worst of the damage in terms of penetration wounds. There was still some degree of blood that had spread across his uniform, however.

As he was tended to, Jacob was approached by what he assumed to be the commanding officer of the squad of troopers. "That was incredibly brave, what you just did there."

"It's not like I could stand and watch!" Jacob replied cheerily, glad to be alive.

"I would give you a reward, but it's against regulations…" said the trooper as he noticed Goris and Kate approach. "Are you a private military company? I'm sure we can work our way around somehow."

A mercenary? Now there's an idea. "I'm afraid not, we are just travellers on our way north."

"I see…" the trooper seemed to be thinking for a moment, but then turned towards the corpse of a Brahmin that had been mown down in the fighting. He returned to Jacob with a light machine gun slung across his arms, and presented it to Jacob. "We won't be able to carry it anymore, anyway."

"I can't accept that, it's too much!" exclaimed Jacob.

"If you want it to fall into the hands of the next person who walks by, sure." replied the trooper.

"Alright, alright – pass it here." said Jacob as the trooper passed the bulky weapon into his hands. He weighted the weapon in his arms – he wasn't that skilled with guns this big, but he enjoyed the rush of testosterone that came with it. "I'll find a use for it." He thought as he slung it across his back, the muzzle pointing up over his shoulder.

After saying goodbye to the caravan, the trio decided to inspect the bodies of the attackers - Something told Jacob they were more than just bandits. "That was reckless, Jacob." scolded Kate as they made their way towards them at a brisk walk.

"I couldn't just watch." replied Jacob "They were NCR."

"They threw me out of my home."

"I know… But they keep the roads clean from people like these." said Jacob, pointing at the bodies as they approached. "Be careful, some of them may still be alive."

Kate seemed to recognise them. "That's the Legion all right."

"But why do they dress like that?"

"I don't know." replied Kate, standing over the body of the Legionary that Jacob had killed with a headshot, baulking slightly at the sight.

Jacob searched the bodies and found a hunting rifle in reasonable condition. Picking it up by the strap, he slung that over his shoulder as well, adding to the weight of the items already on his back. "Let's go." he said finally, nodding in the direction they were originally headed.

"Please don't do that again, Jacob." said Goris all of a sudden.

Jacob looked at him quizzically over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"If something had happened to you, how would we feel?"

"But I couldn't just watch." repeated Jacob. "They were NCR."

"And neither could we, yet you asked us to." responded Goris. "You are a friend." His deep voice wasn't angry, more like it was concerned. He genuinely cared about Jacob's welfare.

Goris had a point – Jacob _was_ reckless. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. If your patriotism calls for it, then who am I to say otherwise? Just don't go in there alone again."

That wasn't what Jacob was expecting at all, he thought Goris was concerned about him nearly throwing his life away. "We go in together?" he replied, uncertainly.

"We go in together." he reiterated, smiling.

As Jacob, Goris and Kate made their way northwards, it gave Jacob time to think about what the trooper said. Becoming a mercenary would be a great way to put his skills to use, and he was no stranger to combat. Goris would likely relish the opportunity; the only question would be if Kate was keen on the idea.

Jacob's thoughts were interrupted when Kate suddenly spoke as they came over the crest of a hill. "That is… A dinosaur?"

Indeed it was, a giant statue could be seen through the haze, sat near a highway intersection and surrounded by a small village. At last, somewhere to rest.


	10. Sunburst

TEN – Sunburst

"Where's Elder Elijah?" exclaimed a figure clad in T-51b power armour as he briskly walked into the dimly lit room, evidently flustered. The emblem of the Brotherhood of Steel was clearly visible on his breastplate. The faint sounds of gunfire could be heard from the outside, and the concussions of explosions could be felt even this deep into the HELIOS One solar power plant.

"Nobody knows, head paladin McNamara." replied another figure, with a sense of urgency in his voice. "He must have left when nobody was looking."

McNamara rested his arms on a nearby table and shook his head. Their Elder had abandoned them? "This time the NCR is going to win…" he muttered, under his breath. After a pause, he straightened up and wiped the sweat off his brow. "I'm taking the position of Elder until further notice, and I am also ordering the evacuation of HELIOS One to the Hidden Valley bunker." he announced to the room, and instantly provoked a heated response.

"But McNamara, what about the technology here? Are you seriously considering just letting the NCR take it all?" replied the paladin, dumbstruck.

"We have no choice, Paladin Hardin!" said McNamara, angered by his stubbornness. Coming from the usually softly-spoken McNamara, the effect was substantial. "It is only a matter of time until we are overrun! If it's any consolation, I am authorising the activation of the installation's defences to at least make it difficult to access."

This silenced Hardin, but from the look on his face he was still unhappy with the decision, his hawk-like eyes narrowed.

Knight Alex Niven silently watched this exchange, his mind elsewhere. Was this really happening? He had heard Elijah mention that the installation contained a hidden weapon that was capable of turning the tide, and here they were, about to leave it for the NCR to decipher and then use it against them?

"What are you waiting for? We need to go now!" exclaimed McNamara, gesturing the occupants of the room to rise to their feet before reaching for his helmet. With the volume of gunfire outside slowly increasing, there was a sense of panic in the air. Alex hurried towards the front entrance with the other knights and paladins, while Hardin led a team of scribes to activate the ancient pre-war defence systems that dotted the facility.

Navigating the old power plant's dingy corridors, the group eventually found themselves at the huge steel bulkhead that separated them from the outside. "Paladin Watkins, open the door." ordered McNamara, gesturing towards it. The gunfire outside had ceased, leaving an eerie silence as Watkins made the long walk.

The bulkhead opened with an elaborate display of turning gears and folding metal, and then the room was promptly flooded with gunfire, brutally shattering the silence from moments before and taking the brotherhood soldiers completely by surprise. While ducking for cover behind some filing cabinets Alex watched as a bullet punched through the bullet-resistant glass of Watkins' visor, sending his limp form falling backwards. Bringing his laser rifle up, Alex squeezed the trigger and smiled inside his helmet as the ruby beam of photons burned a hole through an NCR ranger's armour, killing or at least incapacitating him. Payback.

The exchanges continued, sparks flying off Alex's T-45d power armour as he traded shots with the NCR soldiers that were entrenched outside the front entrance. Despite the brotherhood's superior training and equipment, there were just too many of the NCR to go up against. "This is no use!" shouted McNamara, his suit's external speakers amplifying his voice over the sound of battle. "A detachment needs to hold them here while we use another exit!"

So it had come to this. He had already made the decision – if they were going to be evacuating HELIOS One, he wasn't going to be leaving alive. "I'll do it." volunteered Alex, which then inspired a handful of others to do the same.

McNamara looked across towards them, his expression unreadable from behind his visor. "Good luck, my brothers." came his short reply before he ordered his men to leave the room, with Alex and the others laying down suppressive fire.

Alex fought against them as hard as he could, but it was just no use. Each trooper he killed was instantly replaced by another, the bodies piling up outside. A bullet ricocheted off his shoulder, obliterating the brotherhood emblem that was once proudly displayed there. Alex was starting to get cold feet about his 'heroic' decision.

The firefight continued for maybe another minute, until Alex was so heavily suppressed he daren't even leave cover. Looking around the room, he noticed the bodies of the soldiers that had chosen to stay, blood dribbling from the holes punched through their armour. He was the last one alive.

Blood pounding in his ears, he rose out of cover and fired again, this time hitting a grenade worn on the belts of one of the troopers. Hoping the resulting explosion left them sufficiently stunned, Alex stood up, discarded his rifle and ran as fast as his suit would allow through the labyrinth of corridors – the thought of the pursuing NCR forces occupying every other part of his brain.

Alex almost collided into another bulkhead, similar to the one at the entrance except smaller. After some scrabbling from his armour plated hands, he finally managed to get it open, and emerged into the open air on the opposite side of the plant. Fury and fear drove him forwards as he sprinted past the rows of mirrors towards a gap in the perimeter fence – ignoring the bullets whistling past his head and causing some of the fragile mirrors to shatter.

Once he had cleared the perimeter and was confident they wouldn't follow, Alex slowed down and maintained a brisk walk through the maze of valleys until he was at the front entrance of their hidden bunker. He silently praised the actuators in his suit's joints and the air filtration system in his helmet; otherwise he would have probably collapsed from exhaustion hours ago.

Opening the exterior bulkhead, Alex took off his helmet and made his way down the flight of steps of the ancient pre-war bunker. He was alive…but he was a coward. He wondered what his brothers would make of him as he walked through the large storage room towards the intercom, his plated boots causing echoes to dance off the dirty concrete walls.

Pressing a button, he made an attempt to identify himself. "This is knight Niven, can someone open up?"

There was no response from the intercom. Very strange. Alex stood confused for a moment, but soon mentally kicked himself when he remembered the password. Having been stationed at HELIOS One for so long, it had completely slipped his mind.

Edging closer to the intercom again, Alex made another attempt. "Err… Portcullis?"

Had it changed since last time? Alex could only hope for the best. After a few seconds there was still no answer. Were they ignoring him? He wouldn't be surprised if they were.

A few more seconds passed, and Alex was starting to get increasingly irritated. Jabbing at the button, he tried again. "Ramos, I know you're there. Open the damn door!" Maybe this was his idea of revenge after Alex's little incident with the microfusion cell which Ramos got the blame for. "Look, I'm sorry about the accident thing, okay?"

He was about to conclude that the intercom was broken when it suddenly crackled into life. Alex suddenly rushed back, expectantly awaiting a reply.

"I can't let you in, Alex." replied an indifferent voice through the intercom's speaker, crushing Alex's excitement.

"Why not?" said Alex, dumbfounded.

"Orders from Elder McNamara - the bunker has gone into complete lockdown. Nobody allowed in or out. I'm sorry Alex, but you're on your own."

Alex's disbelief suddenly turned to anger. After risking his neck for them, was this how McNamara repays him? Almost punching the intercom, he threw caution to the wind and started yelling.

"Well, you can tell McNamara to come down here and let me in, or I will be shoving his so-called 'lockdown' where the sun don't shine!"

A short burst of static was emitted from the speaker. "You're out of line, Niven." replied the voice in a threatening tone.

Alex scoffed. "I don't care. What are you going to do about it? Oh yeah – I'm on the outside, aren't I? By the looks of things, McNamara's 'lockdown' has made sure you can't even touch me!"

"Look, just leave. Otherwise he may make an exception." the voice was completely unaffected by Alex's tirade, which made him all the more frustrated. Alex stiffly turned away from the intercom, only to come back again and punch the door as hard as he could – sending sparks flying. He knew it was no use, but it made him feel better.

Getting his breath back, he slowly straightened up towards the empty room behind him – raising his arms as if asking it for answers. What the hell was he going to do now? As he started to walk away, his anger boiled away into a firm resolve. Slowly reaching for his dogtags, Alex bitterly pulled them off as if they were physically attached to his body. As he tossed them aside, he felt ashamed at his sudden outburst – that wasn't like him at all. Sure, his old way of life had suddenly been locked away from him, but he was never one to turn to anger like that. He guessed it didn't matter anymore, nobody would notice the difference.

As Alex stepped into the outside air, the bulkhead closed behind him with a resolute "clang", severing his connection to his old life. He was nothing but a wastelander now.

* * *

><p>Alex Niven stood outside his shack on the hillside overlooking the town of Novac, staring out at the silhouette of HELIOS One far to the north. Many months had passed since the end of the terrible campaign, leaving over sixty of his brothers dead and himself without a goal or purpose. The Brotherhood had rejected him upon his return to hidden valley, without even a shred of recognition and to live with the regret of running away and blaming his own cowardice. He had lived a quiet life up in the hills ever since, out of sight of the numerous NCR patrols that had swarmed over the area like flies to rotting flesh.<p>

Still, at least he had his power armour. The Brotherhood were probably crying over that one – sometimes Alex thought they valued technology more than people. He smirked at the thought; at least he had something to make him feel better.


	11. Novac

ELEVEN - Novac

"Novac?" pointed out Kate as they entered the centre of town, which was what looked like an old motel. The giant, pre-war fabricated Tyrannosaurus Rex probably serving as a tourist attraction for the people headed into or out of Vegas.

"I guess we should find a place to stay first." said Jacob, leading the way into the motel's lobby. "And to get something to drink." he added. Dehydration was beginning to set in, he had a pounding headache and his tongue felt like sandpaper. Not good.

Upon opening the door, Jacob felt that they had taken the woman at the desk by surprise. He guessed it was only natural – there was himself, with a link-belt around his neck and two huge guns crossed over his back, and then there was the colossal robed figure of Goris following behind him. Funny, really – a few weeks ago he wouldn't have been considered even remotely intimidating.

"Hey there!" Jacob said cheerfully as he made his way to the desk, trying to override their initial appearance. After a brief exchange, Jacob had managed to rent a house for them to stay in for a night or two. Having been on the open road for days now, he sorely needed some rest.

It was only until he looked into the mirror of their rented house that he realised to what extent. Not having looked at himself since Primm, he definitely looked more than a little worse for wear. He was nearly growing a full beard across his gaunt face by now, with dark patches that clashed fiercely with his piercing blue eyes.

"Is there a problem?" said Goris, noticing him staring in the mirror while Kate inspected the rest of the house.

"Yeah, I look terrible."

Goris snorted, amused. "I had forgotten you humans were so self-conscious."

"Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you." said Jacob, turning away from the mirror towards him.

"Of course, Jacob - What is it?" replied Goris, his head cocked.

"You too, Kate." Jacob added, motioning for her to come over. "How would you two feel if I started a mercenary company?"

They were both surprised, but seemed to express some interest. Goris was scratching his chin with one of his claws as he thought it over, while Kate looked thoughtful, which was more than what Jacob had expected.

Goris was the first to speak. "I would be happy to join you, unquestionably." No surprises there – Jacob's faithful companion as ever.

Kate took a little longer. "As long as we are guarding caravans and not getting thrown into a full-blown war, then I'm in." she said with a smile.

"Wow, that's great!" exclaimed Jacob. He thought the idea was going to be shot down in flames by Kate – he never knew her to be the mercenary type.

"If you are serious about this idea, there may be something I can give you." said Goris, appearing to remember something. "I have to leave for a while to get it, however."

Jacob was taken aback by this information. "What's that?" he replied, perplexed.

Goris grinned. "It's what you may call a 'surprise'." he said, playfully.

"You don't have to leave just because of me, and aren't you going to get settled in first?"

"No, I insist." replied Goris as he turned and got ready to leave. "I may be a day or two." With a wave of his clawed hand, he closed the door behind him.

As Jacob looked at the door that Goris had left through, he couldn't help but wonder what could motivate him to leave for at least a day purely for someone else. He did have a glint of excitement in his eye as he left though; it obviously meant a lot to him.

"What do you think he's in such a rush for?" asked Kate.

"I'm not sure." replied Jacob. "Anyway, I'm going to see if there's a gun shop nearby." he said, getting up and moving to the door himself.

"I'll join you."

After looking around for a while, Jacob found one inside the dinosaur, of all places. It had served as a gift shop before the war, now it was being run by someone called Cliff Broscoe, who had some weird obsession with the souvenirs that it used to sell. After a quick chat, it was time to see if he had anything else for sale. Throughout the conversation, he was eyeing an assault carbine behind the desk; he was definitely going to make an offer for it – they were pretty potent, just what Jacob needed.

"I was wondering if that assault rifle is for sale, I'm willing to trade for it." offered Jacob, slinging the hunting rifle off his shoulder and placing it on the desk.

Cliff was disappointed that Jacob wasn't interested in the souvenirs, but he did take the offer seriously. "Well… I was hoping to let it go for a little more than that, do you have anything else?"

Jacob did have something else, and it wasn't the light machine gun. Slowly taking his pistol out of its holster, he brought it up to the desk. Could he bring himself to do this? He was still unable to fix the problem and all it had become was extra baggage.

Cliff seemed impressed. "Sure, that would be enough."

"It is broken though." Jacob said as he laid it on the countertop. Cliff didn't seem to mind, thankfully - Good to see his craftsmanship was appreciated.

"Alright, she's all yours." said Cliff, handing him the rifle. Jacob took it, but felt terrible for what he just did – he had infused part of his soul into that gun, and he had just sold it for something much less special. He reminded himself that it was best to just let it go, it wasn't any use to him anymore.

"What is it with men and guns?" asked Kate curiously once they were outside, as Jacob tested out his gun's sights before slinging it over his shoulder.

"What is it with women and clothes?" countered Jacob, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" replied Kate, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, where are we going now?"

"Need to get something to drink."

The pair came across a 'rest stop' of sorts that had been built for travellers heading into and out of New Vegas. It was only made up of a tent and some tables, but as long as it was a place to get food, Jacob guessed it didn't really matter. After getting some food and drink, they sat down at a vacant table.

"I was wondering," said Kate. "Where on earth did you come up with the idea of being a mercenary?"

Jacob picked at his meal with a fork. Looked to be a stew of some kind, he'd rather not know what it was made from. "Do you remember that trooper asking us if we were mercs? I just thought it might be a way to make a living."

"Okay," she replied. "But a _mercenary_? You really surprised me with that one!"

"I'm not planning on contract killing, Kate." said Jacob, smiling. "Guarding caravans sounds like the life for me."

"Oh, good. I thought you had gone mad." replied Kate, relieved.

Jacob unscrewed his bottle of water and took a tentative sip, then immediately tensed up and shivered. The water for sale around here was absolute _crap_. He rarely had the chance to drink purified water and had gotten used to the unfiltered kind, but this was more than he bargained for. He wondered what it would be like to live in a vault - they had access to clean food and water, but Jacob wasn't keen on the idea of staying cooped up in one for too long. Guess that was what Goris must have felt like.

"I wonder what Goris was so excited about?" he said suddenly, thinking aloud.

"I don't know, but it sounds pretty special. Never thought a Deathclaw could get so enthusiastic – I thought it was cute."

Jacob regarded Kate with a raised eyebrow. 'Cute' and 'Deathclaw' didn't really mix in Jacob's mind. He had to smile at the thought though; he supposed it was cute in Goris' own way.

"I wonder if he's alright." added Kate, slightly worried. "It sounds like a long way."

"Ah, he'll be fine." dismissed Jacob with a wave of his hand. Goris was _built_ to survive in a nuclear wasteland. "He could probably _run_ there and back without even breaking a sweat." he added.

"So…" said Kate, changing the subject. "How long are we going to be staying in Novac for?"

"Not too long. I'll need to register the mercenary unit afterwards."

"How do you do that, by the way?" said Kate, quizzically.

"The NCR headquarters is at camp McCarran. There's probably some bureau there that handles this sort of thing."

Jacob paused and took a mouthful of his stew. Camp McCarran was formerly the McCarran international airport, which served seemingly never-ending hordes of tourist traffic heading into and out of the pre-war city. He wondered how eerie the old terminals must feel nowadays.

His thoughts were interrupted as a trader walked past him. "Whoa, are you packing heat, or what?" he said, astonished. Jacob acknowledged his remark with a quick upwards nod as he walked away.

"He has a point, though." agreed Kate as Jacob turned his head back towards her. "You look like you're on some sort of revenge expedition."

"Heh, thank the trooper for that one." said Jacob with a little smile.

"To be honest, I think it suits you." she added, brushing her black hair aside.

That took Jacob completely by surprise. "Err, thanks!" he replied, uncertainly. Had she figured him out, or maybe it was just a simple compliment and he was jumping at shadows?

Jacob decided to go for it and briefly looked into Kate's attractive green eyes. He wished he was Goris – his enhanced senses made him ridiculously good at this sort of thing, to the point where many would call it cheating. "Never imagined myself as a gunslinger." Jacob said, carrying on the momentum of the conversation and breaking eye contact. He was being ridiculous.

"Aw, come on – the way you joined in with those NCR soldiers earlier even to the way you tested your gun just now tells me otherwise." countered Kate, confident she was winning.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." said Jacob with a grin, looking away with his hands in his pockets. It wasn't worth the effort to try and argue. He took another swig of his water and fought back the urge to gag – he wondered how much a water purifier would cost.

Putting the bottle down with distaste, he changed the subject. "How strong is the Brotherhood of Steel around here?"

"I don't know – just something I picked up. This was a few months ago though, Last thing I heard was this big victory the NCR had over them at a place called HELIOS One. Haven't heard from them since."

"What's that?" asked Jacob, intrigued. What a weird name.

"A power plant, I think."

Jacob scoffed. "Huh, looks like they wanted a slice of the pie, with the NCR controlling Hoover Dam and all.

"How bad was that war back west?" she asked.

"Still is, as far as I know." corrected Jacob. "A train wreck springs to mind. I don't even know how it started, but at least a thousand NCR soldiers have died – my brother included."

"I'm sorry." said Kate, quietly.

"it's alright." he replied. "He was a real nice person too, totally didn't deserve it. But hey, I guess that's life." he added with a shrug.

"And then there's the Legion the NCR is fighting, as well as a smaller one..." said Kate, trying to remember.

"Yep, the NCR has a lot of enemies." agreed Jacob, which brought him to an interesting concept – was it simply because of people attempting to take advantage of the only true democracy in the wasteland, or was it the other way round? As much as he hated to admit it, the sheer rate that the NCR had expanded over the years could be seen as threatening to anybody who wasn't one of them. The belligerence of annexing town after town could provoke even the most peaceful communities to war.

He continued to muse as he finished his stew. Interesting, his expedition to the Mojave had shed the NCR in a completely different light.

"Anyway." he said finally, standing up. "I think we had better get moving." It was getting late now, the sun sitting low in the sky and stretching their shadows far across the ground.

"Uh, yeah, sure." replied Kate, reluctantly.

"We can talk more once we get back, right?" said Jacob, straightening the straps on his shoulders. Those guns weighed a ton.

Once they got back to their house, Jacob eventually settled down to a well-earned sleep - resting his burning eyes and aching muscles. He dreamt of when he was still a child, safe under the protection of his parents and playing with his brother and sister. Everything seemed so perfect back then, back when he actually knew them.

* * *

><p>Jacob woke up to see the sunlight filtering through the curtains – a new day. Getting up, he felt strange… He didn't remember the whole dream, but it was something about his sister. He still had those from time to time – just where was she? He prayed that she was still alive. His mind was still vainly clutching at the strings that held his family together, after the series of events that split it apart. He needed to walk these thoughts off – the fresh air will do him good.<p>

He found Kate awake in the living room, who gave him a smile as he entered. "Hey, I'm going out for a quick walk, alright?" he asked her.

"Sure… Is there anything wrong?

"Nah, it's alright. I'll only be a minute." he said with a smile before walking over to the door, slinging his rifle over his shoulder as he did so.

Once outside, he took a deep breath. The musty air in that house was probably giving him asthma. Setting off towards the outskirts of town, he wondered how Goris must have felt. What he was feeling now could hardly compare with what he must have felt – Jacobs family slowly came apart over a matter of years, while Goris' was brutally annihilated on the same day, without even a moment's notice. From what Goris had told him, his species' social structure was far, far more close-knit than humans. He could almost hear him howling in the darkness at the edge of the firelight, forever alone.

* * *

><p>Alex woke to the sound of scuttling outside – those damn radscorpions again. Getting up with a yawn, he began the slow process of putting on his power armour, having a quick breakfast while doing so. When he was finally ready, he picked up his hunting rifle and prepared himself for what was to come.<p>

Forcefully pulling the door open, he quickly shot one directly in one of its many eyes before it even had a chance to react. While pulling the bolt back, Alex sidestepped into the open. There were at least five radscorpions left, simple pest control. It wasn't like their stingers could penetrate his armour anyway.

He picked them off one by one as they scuttled towards him, without a care in the world. Kicking one away with his boot before shooting it through its soft underbelly, he was about to take out the final radscorpion when a huge shape started moving towards him inside his peripheral vision.

Shooting the final radscorpion's stinger clean off, he turned round to face this new threat – only to realise his rifle had jammed, the bolt refusing to budge. At the same time he also realised just what he was up against. It was another radscorpion, only this one was easily twice the size of him. While desperately trying to unjam his rifle, the scorpion closed the distance between them with alarming speed and quickly rammed its stinger into Alex's breastplate. Although the blow didn't penetrate, Alex was left winded by the attack. Staggering backwards, he braced for another strike; frantically searching for a solution to his plight.

Jacob was still lost within his own thoughts when he heard the gunshots. Quickly dropping to the floor and readying his rifle, he set about listening for where the shots come from. After a few seconds he had concluded that they weren't being fired at him, and was considering looking for the source. It was a stupid idea, but what if someone needed his help?

He had barely started running in the direction of the noise when he suddenly saw a figure fall backwards off a rocky outcropping for at least ten feet, landing spread-eagled on his back. As Jacob rushed closer, he saw what had caused it to fall. Jacob quickly brought up his assault carbine and let loose a burst of hot death, the bolt repeatedly hammering home like a pile driver. This caught the scorpion completely by surprise as it suddenly became riddled with bullets, smashing off large chunks of its tough carapace and shredding the flesh within. The monster came to a rest, its stinger leaning to one side.

Jacob trotted over to the figure, who had removed his helmet and had propped himself up against a nearby boulder, blood oozing from a head wound. As he got closer, Jacob realised the significance of what he was wearing – power armour. _Brotherhood_ power armour.

"_You're_ a member of the Brotherhood of Steel?" shouted Jacob with his rifle raised and his face contorted, unable to hide his anger.

The soldier rested his head to one side, a resigned expression on his face. He wasn't going to try and deny it. "Ex-member." he replied, shortly.

"Do you have any idea how much grief you have caused?" said Jacob, still fuming. "I should shoot between the eyes."

The soldier looked up, staring Jacob directly in the eye. "Then make it quick, nobody is going to care anyway."

As Jacob stood there with his gun pointing to the helpless soldier's head, he began to feel his bloodlust dissipate. Was this really worth it? Could he really shoot someone just to make him feel better about the loss of his brother?

No, he couldn't. "Get up." he spat out, holding out his hand to help.

The soldier took it reluctantly with his armoured hand, and slowly staggered up straight. His head wound was pretty bad – Jacob was tempted to let go, but decided against it. He wasn't that mean.

Jacob was almost at their house when the soldier began to find it difficult to stand. While Jacob threw his arm over his shoulder, he decided he needed to make some conversation to keep him concentrating.

"What's your name?" Jacob asked.

"Kni- Alex Niven." mumbled the soldier.

Thank heavens the front door was in sight – his power armour weighed a ton. He fumbled with the handle and barged through with his shoulder, much to Kate's surprise.

"You said you were going out just for a walk!" she exclaimed.

"Huh, look who I found." Jacob said, making his way through the doorframe supporting the barely conscious Alex.

"Oh my god, he's bleeding!" she said before helping Jacob set him down on the sofa. She then set about bandaging his wounded head. "Isn't this a Brotherhood soldier? I thought you didn't like them?"

"Got sentimental." replied Jacob, shortly.

"So you didn't do this?" she asked.

Jacob shook his head. "Radscorpions got him."

As Jacob watched her patch the wounded soldier up, he wondered what his dad might think, forgiving an enemy of the NCR. Still, he didn't hold the NCR's ideals so close to his heart as of late, otherwise Jacob would have probably shot him on the spot.

A few hours later, Alex was awake and was eventually talking to Kate in a very limited fashion. Jacob listened for a while, but decided he should contribute to the conversation. "What made you leave the Brotherhood?" he asked Alex from across the table.

He seemed uncomfortable with this question. "I was separated from them when we retreated."

"I see." evidently, he didn't talk much. He was going to ask him where they retreated to, but this seemed too much like an interrogation already.

The awkward silence afterwards was suddenly broken by Goris entering through the door, with his hood down and carrying a metal crate easily the size of a man underneath one of his arms. "I'm back!" he said, cheerfully.

Alex yelped in surprise and nearly fell off his chair. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed in terror, his hands clasped to the armrests.

Goris stopped in the doorway, amused by his reaction. "Did I miss anything?" he calmly asked, with a mischievous edge to his gruff voice.

"Err, yeah. Alex, this is Goris – he's a friend." said Jacob. Alex shot him a quizzical look.

"Nice to meet you." said Goris, to which Alex only nodded, his face pale. "Anyway, it brings me great joy to present your gift." he said to Jacob, setting the heavy crate down on the floor.

"What is it?" asked Jacob, completely bewildered.

"You'll see." replied Goris with another toothy grin, unable to contain his anticipation.

Getting up from his chair and kneeling on the floor, Jacob pressed his thumbs into the tabs at the side of the crate. There was a hiss of air as the heavy-duty locks opened and the vacuum inside was broken, allowing him to open the lid.

The first thing Jacob noticed was a pair of yellow-tinted eye lenses staring back at him, surrounded by jet-black metal riveted together with expert precision. Looking down, he saw the faded emblem of the Enclave, a yellow 'E' surrounded by stars. It was a suit of power armour, the very same worn by the Enclave over a generation before. The Enclave's incredible technology had become the stuff of legend over the years since its downfall, and Jacob couldn't believe that there was an example right here, before his very eyes.

"Where the hell did you get this?" he gasped, awestruck.

"It used to belong to the human I travelled with. I guess you could call it 'the spoils of war.'" replied Goris, pleased with Jacob's reception.

So this wasn't just any suit of priceless ultra-advanced power armour, it was the suit of priceless ultra-advanced power armour worn by the very person responsible for the Enclave's destruction. Jacob didn't think he was worthy to even touch it, let alone wear it.

"Am I seeing things?" exclaimed Alex, his former timidity suddenly non-existent. "Do you have any idea what the Brotherhood would do for this?"

Jacob was at a loss for words. Standing up, he promptly gave Goris a powerful hug, much to his amusement. "I think I do, actually." Jacob said as he knelt back down to inspect the suit further - he still didn't trust Alex. He looked like he was going to give a retort, but decided against it.

"So…" said Goris, after a pause. "Are you going to wear it?"

"Oh, right – sure!" said Jacob excitedly. "I'll need some help getting in it, though." he added, puzzled. How on earth did the suit open up to let him in?

"Of course." said Goris, effortlessly lifting the heavy suit up by the armpits.

"Err… I'll help too." said Alex, uncertainly as he made his way over. Jacob thought it was for the better to trust him on this one – he was the one with power armour training, after all.

With Goris' experience and Alex's training, they eventually managed to get it working, with Kate looking on in interest. The suit's filtration system kicked in, and the rear-mounted fan activated and bathed Goris' torso with an orange light. The suit then began to systematically open up, inviting Jacob to enter.

"It's all yours." said Goris with a smile.

Jacob shyly approached, turned his back and then eased himself into the suit, sliding his hands into its gauntlets. Alex made an input that Jacob couldn't see, and the suit began to close up again, with the suits neck guard finally folding down with a firm 'clunk'. Jacob was reminded of the safety guards on those old pre-war fairground rides.

With a huge sense of achievement welling up inside him, Jacob tried to move his arms but suddenly found they were extremely sluggish, requiring a huge amount of effort to move. "Whoa, is this right?" he said, an edge of panic in his voice.

"That's why you need power armour training." said Alex with a smirk. "There are a few neat Brotherhood tricks I can teach you." he offered. Jacob found himself beginning to warm to the guy.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Jacob, Goris and Kate were sat outside the Novac rest stop, chatting away. Jacob sat in his power armour – he was still not very proficient, but he was getting the hang of it. As Jacob took his first steps, he couldn't help but remember the unmistakable look of pride on Goris' reptilian face. He couldn't blame him; it probably brought back a lot of memories. Alex had gone back to sleep after he was done, he still hadn't fully recovered.<p>

Jacob pondered as he sipped on some whiskey. "Hey Goris." he suddenly said. "Are you sure you're alright with me wearing this?"

"Of course, don't be ridiculous." Goris replied bluntly.

"I mean, it used to belong to the Enclave and everything…"

"_Used_ to." he said. "It's just an instrument. The people behind them were the true evil."

He had a point. "I guess you're right." Jacob said, defeated yet again.

He swilled around his whiskey in its glass. "Kate, have you tried this stuff? It's fantastic."

"More than you bargained for after that water, eh?"

"Ha, yeah… that was dreadful!" laughed Jacob.

"I can smell that from over here." noted Goris, jokily.

"What's the matter?" asked Jacob with a grin. "You want some?"

"I think I'll pass, thanks." declined Goris.

Jacob was having none of it. "_No, I insist_." he parroted.

Goris seemed to cave in. "Alright, I'll give it a try."

"Yeah…!" hailed Jacob in triumph as he passed Goris his bottle. All the while, Kate was eyeing the pair of them with a bemused expression on her face. Jacob took a sip of his whiskey, looking over the glass expectantly. This was going to be interesting.

Clutching the bottle awkwardly in his claws, he lifted it up until the neck disappeared beneath the shadow of his hood, and Goris seemed to fight back a cough.

"I think he likes it!" said Jacob, wittily.

"This is so weird." said Kate, resting her head on her hand.

"Very funny, Jacob." said Goris, humorously. "It's really strange… not bad, though."

"That's your bottle now, by the way." said Jacob, casually pointing with the hand that held his glass.

"I see what you did there."

Jacob only grinned smugly, taking another sip. He never thought it was possible to outwit a Deathclaw.

After a few moments, Goris was about to take another cautious drink, but decided against it and instead let out a frustrated snort. "This robe is really starting to annoy me."

"Take it off then, you're with us." said Jacob.

Goris made a small uncertain growl – it was clear he was uncomfortable with the decision he had to make.

"Be proud of who you are, Goris." added Kate, urging him on.

Goris paused for a few more moments. "Screw this." he suddenly said, rising to his feet.

"Bit rich, coming from you, don't you think?" said a bemused Jacob before Goris dramatically flung his robes away, much to the astonishment, disbelief and even horror of the people sitting nearby.

"Seems like you've got their attention." Jacob added, conscious of their stares as Goris sat back down on the ground.

"I guess I just have that effect on people." replied Goris, sarcastically – his eyes glinting below his horns.

Jacob started laughing. "A shocking personality." he agreed with hilarity.

His amusement soon turned into crushing disappointment as he accidentally smashed his glass in his armour-plated hand. "Aw…" he muttered – he still wasn't used to his new armour. Now it was Goris' turn to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah… laugh it up." said Jacob, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'm going to go and buy us another round." he added, while taking out some NCR paper money from a storage compartment on his hip.

"Oh please, you can't be serious." scolded Kate, always the voice of reason.

"Aw, c'mon… Miss Tandi here agrees with me!" he joked, waving the green bill in the air.

"I have met Tandi before." Goris proudly said, a grin on his face.

"Nah…" replied Jacob in disbelief.

"It's true!" said Goris, enthusiastically. "There's a story behind it."

"Well, wait for me to get back then let's hear it."

After Jacob had returned with their drinks, Goris then set about animatedly describing when he and his human companion fought their way through Vault 15 to secure it for the NCR, his tail flicking excitedly. Watching his enthusiastic gestures, Jacob couldn't help but feel pleased with himself – Goris was normally very uncomfortable being the centre of attention, now he was relishing it – taking it all in his stride. Looks like the wonders of alcohol had finally brought him out of his shell.

"You should have _seen_ the look on the leader's face when he found out his flamethrower couldn't stop me!" Goris boasted, with a mad smile on his face.

"Wait, you were on _fire_?" asked Kate, sceptically.

"I got burned, but I survived." he replied, shrugging his enormous shoulders. "…He didn't." Goris added in a menacing rumble.

Jacob laughed between mouthfuls. If there was anything worse than an angry Deathclaw going for your throat, it would be an angry, _flaming_ one. Sucks to be that guy.

They continued to chat as the sun began to set, and Jacob's pockets emptied. Needless to say, the alcohol vendor was making a killing. Jacob was having a blast, and Kate was the same story. Even Goris was enjoying himself - Jacob had never seen him happier.

Jacob was _just_ sober enough to notice Goris was becoming a little drunk, much to his surprise. For such a large creature, he thought it wouldn't have had that much of an effect – it was probably down to his inexperience.

"Goris, you're _drunk_!" Jacob pointed out, laughing.

Goris only shrugged with a smile. "Look who's talking, I can smell your breath from over here." he said, shrewdly pointing with one of his clawed fingers.

"Look who's talking, indeed." countered Jacob, with some difficulty. "I can smell your breath even at the best of times!" to which Goris snorted in amusement and shook his head.

"Oh, hello." said Kate to the figure of Alex walking towards them. He was wearing his power armour, with a bandage still around his head.

"Hi, Kate." he replied. "Err… Goris, shouldn't you be wearing your cloak?"

Goris gave another wry smile. "If people don't like it, that's their problem."

"Fair enough." he replied, satisfied with his answer. "Anyway, I'd best be going now - Thanks for saving me."

"No problem!" said Kate, speaking on Jacob's behalf. He wasn't paying attention, choosing to talk to Goris instead.

"Um, there was one more thing…" added Alex, uncertainly. "Will you be keeping the box?"

"Nah, you can take it. We couldn't really take it with us, anyway."

"Oh, thanks!" replied Alex, relieved. "I guess I should be making my way back now. Thanks again!" he said with a parting wave.

Alex was nearly out of sight of them when he noticed a suspicious group of people loitering against a nearby building. "Yep, that's the slippery bastard, all right." said one of them, smoking a cigarette while looking towards the three figures chatting on the ground.

Intrigued, Alex moved closer to eavesdrop on them. He was certain it concerned Jacob in some way.

"But who is that girl with him?" asked one. "And is that a _Deathclaw_?" he added, incredulous.

"Looks like it." said a third figure, whistling softly. "Boss never said anything about a tame Deathclaw."

"But I mean, look at it! It's practically sat down with them…" continued the second figure. "Kill it?" he asked, shortly.

"Nah." said what Alex assumed to be the leader. "Boss might be interested in it, as long as it doesn't kick up a fuss. He'll also be interested in our friend's little sweetheart here."

An air of hesitation seemed to descend upon the group. It was a tall order.

"So, what do we do? Take them right now?" said the second figure, breaking the silence.

"Are you nuts? Here?" snapped the leader. "Now's not the right time."

Alex quietly moved on, considerably concerned. He had heard enough.

* * *

><p>"I think we had better get going now." said Kate, standing up.<p>

"Eh?" mumbled Jacob, disappointed.

"We can talk more once we get back, right?" quoted Kate, holding out a hand to help Jacob up.

"Ugh, it's cold." complained Goris as he rose precariously to his feet and made for his robe. Jacob wasn't surprised, he was cold-blooded after all.

Jacob soon realised that power armour was not the ideal apparel to get tipsy in. It seemed to have a mind of its own, its servo-assisted joints making the difficult task of walking impossible.

"Err… I may need a hand here." muttered Jacob, leaning on Kate for support, who giggled slightly.

"I wasn't planning on drinking this much, alright?" he slurred.

"That's what they all say…" Kate trilled, still more or less sober.

Goris suddenly made an impatient snort and promptly picked up Jacob by the waist. He then started carrying him back to the house, oblivious of his protests.

"Shut up." Jacob retorted - looking back at Kate who was in fits of hysterical laughter. How humiliating.

"You're not making this any easier, you know." said Goris, cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah…" replied Jacob, emptying his lungs with a deep sigh as they made their way to the front door. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep.


	12. Recorded for Posterity

TWELVE – Recorded for Posterity

"Wake up, Jacob!" sang Kate, throwing open the curtains. The sudden change of light burned into Jacob's eyes and made his head spin.

"Morning…" said Jacob through gritted teeth, squeezing his eyes shut to try and stave off the pounding in his head. He wasn't used to getting woken up by anyone; he was usually the first to rise.

Still dazed slightly, he slowly rose to his feet. He had definitely drunk more than he had intended to last night.

"You know, what Goris did to you yesterday was the funniest thing I have ever seen."

"Don't rub it in…" said Jacob with a weak smile.

"What's that?" said Goris from the other room. He had come to rest against the doorframe, his huge form completely filling it. He was clearly hungover as well.

"When you carried him back to the house." Kate said with a breathless laugh.

Goris gave a low chuckle. "You humans, always trying to poison yourselves."

Jacob shrugged. "Yeah, well… I guess that's us for you."

"You also tried to poison me." Goris added, in mock condemnation.

"You loved it, really." Jacob replied with a grin. "And you could have stopped whenever you wanted, so there's no denying it."

Goris gave a dismissive huff, turning his head away. He then let out a long yawn, revealing the rows of ferocious-looking teeth to the pair of them. Even though he meant no harm, Jacob felt a small adrenaline rush at the sight. It reminded him that he was on speaking terms with one of the meanest and most dangerous predators the wasteland had to offer.

"So…" said Kate. "What is the plan for today?"

"Guess we had better head for New Vegas." replied Jacob, while walking over to the empty suit of power armour sat against the corner of the room.

"Why's that?" interjected Goris, slowly scratching an itch on his neck with one of his foot-long talons.

"Need to register the mercenary company."

"I see." he replied shortly, stopping his scratching. He then detached himself from the doorframe and ducked through it, clenching his eyelids shut from the headache he was undoubtedly suffering from. Jacob had to fight back laughter at the comical sight.

"If it makes you feel better, you were probably the world's first Deathclaw to drink alcohol." said Kate, noticing his discomfort.

"As long as it was worth it, right?" asked Jacob, to which Goris replied with an upwards nod, along with a hint of a smile.

"Anyway…" Goris said, changing the subject. "Are we going to get ready to leave?"

"Yeah, sure – 'need to get suited up first."

* * *

><p>After an extended breakfast, the group were finally on the open road again, heading further north. It was now high noon, and one of the hottest days Jacob had experienced so far. Despite this fact, Kate was the only one who was suffering from it – she was bathed in sweat, trying to cover up her face as best as possible with a wide-brimmed hat. Goris was actually enjoying it, choosing to take off his robe to make the most of the sun. Not surprising really, being a reptile and all.<p>

Jacob on the other hand felt rather selfish, as he was secretly enjoying the air filtration system in his suits helmet – the fans quietly humming underneath his ears. If it wasn't for that blessing, he wasn't going to wear it. He knew his intimidating appearance made both of them uncomfortable – the suits were probably designed with that purpose in mind, come to think of it.

"Hey, I think that's HELIOS One." said Kate, pointing at the silhouette on the horizon.

"Hmm…" replied Jacob, Using his suit's enhanced optics, he zoomed in on the plant's solar collection tower, looking through the haze to see the plant's name built onto the side of the building. "What kind of power plant is that?" he asked.

"Hell if I know." Kate replied.

As he experimented with the suit, he became absolutely amazed at its capabilities. Night vision, thermal vision, sound amplification, the works. It even had a video camera and microphone installed. As they walked along, he watched the previous owner's recordings that were beamed onto the inside of one of his helmet's eyepieces – his thoughts making the commands.

"Goris, this suit is incredible!" He said in awe as he watched the previous owner navigate through what looked like a military base. He could hear nervous breathing filling his ears as enclave soldiers and technicians walked past him along a maze of corridors – he obviously didn't belong there. It could have been happening right now for all Jacob knew, not thirty-plus years ago.

"Are you looking at the recordings?" Goris asked.

"Yeah… what is this Enclave base?"

"Wait, what?" quizzed Kate, completely in the dark.

"That would be Navarro." replied Goris with an air of sadness.

Jacob continued to watch as the wearer emerged from the depths of the base into a central courtyard, passing a huge insectoid machine that Jacob presumed to be one of those 'vertibirds' that he had heard so many stories about. He could then hear the wearer gulp as he turned into a side building to face another armour-clad soldier, his features completely hidden. He looked terrifying.

"_Excellent_!" boomed the figure in a condescending tone, his voice blaring out of his suit's external speakers and nearly giving Jacob a heart attack. "You're in uniform now, so I'm going to give you a rare opportunity. We are going to start over as if I _never_ met your sorry ass. Would you like that soldier?"

"Yes, sergeant!" said the wearer, speaking for the first time.

"_First_ of all…" barked the sergeant, "_Why_ are you recording? If you _really_ think I'm that good-looking, why don't you say it to my face? That suit is _not_ a toy, maggot."

At that moment the video feed cut, leaving Jacob confused. "Just what was that about, Goris?" he asked.

"My companion infiltrated Navarro. Anyway, I don't think that's the end – watch the next one... if you want."

Jacob did what he suggested, bringing up the next entry on a list displayed on the inside of his eyepieces while Goris explained to Kate what he was doing. The date read: 15th June, 2242 – thirty-five years ago.

Jacob found himself on a descending platform, into what he presumed was the base's underground section. When the elevator reached its destination with a resolute 'clunk' he stepped off and briskly walked through a doorway and down a corridor. He seemed to know where he was going.

He then walked through one of the many doors lining the hallway, and Jacob was greeted with a horrific sight.

A dead body lay on an operating table in the centre of the room, being dissected by a balding man wearing a blood-splashed lab coat. Looked like something straight out of one of those horror clips Jacob watched one time on his father's old projector.

"What do you want?" snapped the man, angrily stripping off his operating mask. "You had better have a good reason for interrupting me."

"Err… I was looking for the base commander's office?" said the wearer, evidently not expecting this.

The man sighed. "When will you grunts learn? It's on your left from the elevator, understand?"

"Yes, thank you." said the wearer as he turned to leave, clearly disturbed.

"Actually, since you're here, there may be something you can do for me."

The wearer grudgingly turned round back to the grisly scene before him. "What's that, and who are you anyway?"

The man then impatiently crossed his arms. "My name is Schreber, Dr. Schreber. I am the base physician, among other things. Don't bother with your name, soldier. All of you grunts look the same in that armour of yours. As for what I want you to do, there is an experiment that I have recently completed that is currently awaiting termination. I was wondering if you could take care of it for me."

"Err… yeah sure, but I would like to know what it is first." he replied, distrustful. What an unpleasant man.

Schreber then flung his arms up in incredulity, becoming increasingly irritated. "What is it with you and your questions?" he snapped, before regaining your composure. "Alright, I suppose you have a right to know. It is a Deathclaw with artificially enhanced intelligence, something I have been studying to determine its true nature."

Jacob suddenly became alert with realisation, and he had a feeling the suit's wearer did too. That was something he wasn't expecting.

A long silence followed, until the wearer finally spoke. "Sure, I will kill it for you."

"Excellent, it's in the other room." he replied, completely unfeeling.

As the wearer made his way to that room, Jacob was tortured by the fact that the suit didn't record the wearer's thoughts as well. What was he planning inside that helmet?

The wearer was approaching the door when a female figure clad in combat armour approached him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "This area is off limits."

"The Doc sent me to kill the creature in that room." he said, simply.

"I knew the bastard wouldn't have the balls to do it himself. Oh no, it's okay if one of us gets fucked up." she grumbled with a sigh. "Oh well. Go on in and good luck, soldier."

"Thanks." he said as he entered the door. Jacob didn't want to watch this, but forced himself to carry on.

With the door closing behind him with a resounding clang, the wearer turned towards the figure of a Deathclaw sat in the corner of the room. It was nothing but skin and bone; its once impressive physique now a distant memory. "Are you to be my executioner?" it croaked, its resigned eyes boring into Jacob's even through his eyepieces.

"No." came the wearer's reply. "I'm here to free you."

The Deathclaw snorted and broke eye contact. "I find that hard to believe." he replied. "More likely you are to build my hopes up before you dash them to pieces."

"No, I mean it." said the wearer, dropping to his knee. "I know Gruthar." he added, as honestly as possible.

It immediately became fraught, panicked. "You know Gruthar?" it repeated, wide-eyed. "Please, there is not much time… he does not realise how much danger his people are in."

"Any ideas on how to get you out of here?"

"The door over there leads to an airshaft to the woods above." it replied, weakly pointing. "However, it is locked and needs a passkey to open. Find the key, open the door and grant me my freedom. Please."

"I'll see what I can do." said the wearer as he stood up.

"My species is counting on you." he finished with a pleading stare.

The wearer left the room at a brisk walk, passing the female guard on the way out.

"Oh, you did it? I'll send a team to clean…" Jacob managed to hear before the wearer marched into Schreber's lab. He didn't have much time.

"It has been taken care of." the wearer lied.

"Well done, you savior of the world, you." said the doctor, taking off his mask once more. "Good to see it's finally gone. It kicked up one hell of a fuss when we brought it here – the base commander finally snapped and ordered this room to be soundproofed for 'morale' purposes." he said, casually flinging his gloves away.

"Why did you want it terminated?" the wearer asked, calmly.

Schreber ran his hand over his balding head, exasperated. "Those monsters have become more intelligent than we had originally planned. Not only that, but they have hidden it for all this time under a façade until they could get the drop on us. All rather embarrassing, really. Clearly such intelligence could mean the endangerment of the human race, which is why I will soon be publishing a report to the Enclave to recommend the eradication of the Deathclaw breed. Was there anything else?" he added, sarcastically.

"There was one more thing."

"This is your _last_ question. What _is _it?" he nearly yelled, wildly gesticulating.

"Are you sure this room is soundproof?" the wearer replied, cold as ice.

"Of course." said Schreber, puzzled. "The commander would have a fit otherwise. Why?"

"I don't want anyone to hear your screams as I experiment on you." spat the wearer as he brought his pistol up to aim at the doctor's head.

Jacob caught the astonished expression on the doctor's face as the wearer blasted a bullet clean between the eyes, sending him off his feet and crashing down on the hard floor. Stepping over his still-twitching corpse, the wearer made his way to the late doctor's desk. Carelessly sifting through the documents, he finally stopped when he held up a small, blue passkey held between the thumb and forefinger of his reinforced hand.

"Bingo."

Rushing back out of the room, the wearer nearly ran back down the hallway. Thankfully the guard was not there to challenge him again, but that meant he only had a few minutes at the most.

"Schreber's dead, and I've got the key." called the wearer as he entered the room.

"I will not forget this." said the Deathclaw, as it got to its feet with a pained grunt. "I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid."

Sliding the passkey through the console beside the door opposite, it then slid upwards through the ceiling with a whirring sound.

At that moment the feed went dead as the wearer took off his helmet. Jacob then took a few seconds to get his bearings, stood stock still and then forcefully ripped off his own. "What the hell was that, Goris?" he gasped, shocked.

"What the hell was what?" cried Kate, alarmed at his sudden reaction.

"That was Xarn." said Goris, quietly. "Funny, really – I had lost count of how many times he had saved me when I was younger, and then he finally gets repaid in kind."

"But, it doesn't add up!" Jacob exclaimed, frustrated. "The report didn't make it through, and even if it did, wouldn't Xarn be there to warn them?"

Goris sighed gustily. Looking to Kate, Jacob could see she had decided to wait until someone told her what was going on.

"I have asked myself the same question time and time again. Xarn never made it to vault 13, and the Enclave executed their act of genocide regardless. Both our chances of survival failed, and I don't know what to blame. Was it fate, or just bad luck?" he snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised if your so-called 'God' had something to do with it."

Jacob looked down at his helmet, regretting having even put it on. Screw the Brotherhood, screw the Legion, screw Reno. The Enclave made them look like saints in comparison.

"Don't feel bad, Jacob." said Goris suddenly, sensing his feelings. "Don't get dragged down by your species' mistakes. If anything, learn from them and prove that there is hope for humanity yet."

"I'm just one person, Goris."

"And I'm just one Deathclaw. I… think I made my mark." Goris countered with a smile. He must have a will of iron to not go mad with rage at the injustice of it all. Goris? A threat to humanity?

Jacob put his helmet back on, hiding behind it while Goris explained to Kate what had happened. He carried on walking, thinking over what he had just seen until they came across a dilapidated gas station on the side of the highway.

"Can we rest here for a while, please?" asked Kate, the fatigue beginning to get to her.

"Sure." Jacob replied, changing course for the door.

Once they were inside, Jacob wasted no time in getting his power armour off – it was a marvel of technology, indeed… but the Enclave scientists obviously thought its wearers didn't need to sit down, as it was as uncomfortable as hell.

"Do you know what happened to Xarn, Goris?" asked Kate, unable to contain her curiosity.

"No." Goris answered, shaking his head.

"He could still be out there, though?" she said, comforting him.

"I would like to believe, but that may be wishful thinking." Goris replied. "I am not sure how long we live for though, he is older than me."

Jacob silently regarded the conversation, and eventually decided that he needed to lighten the mood somehow. Eyeing a pack of cards on a nearby table, he made his move.

"Hey, is anyone up for a game of caravan?" he offered.

"Caravan?" asked Goris quizzically, although Jacob could notice the relief in his voice from being spared of further conversation.

"It's a card game that caravan merchants play." Kate replied. "But I don't know how to play it, either."

"Don't worry about it." said Jacob as he made his way to retrieve the cards. "I can teach you."

After he had returned, Jacob set about teaching Kate how to play, with Goris watching intently. Most of the cards were missing or burnt, but neither minded. They then played a few hands, with Jacob winning the overwhelming majority. Kate still seemed to feel pleased with herself, though.

"Goris, do you want a go?" Jacob offered.

"I'll give it a try." he replied uncertainly as he sat down on the other side of the table. His enormous, clawed hands weren't designed with cards in mind.

He still did a fair job though, given the circumstances. Jacob guessed it was because he read a lot of books, having practiced the precision involved. They were both drawing with each other until Goris brought out another card, completing his second caravan before Jacob with a perfect total of 26.

"Damn!" laughed Jacob, playfully. He then looked at the card that Goris had beaten him with. It was the ten of spades, and probably the only card that wasn't burned or dirty in some way. Goris seemed pleased at beating him at his own game, smiling in quiet satisfaction.

"Up for another hand?" Jacob asked.

"It's alright, we had better get going now." declined Goris.

"Fair enough." said Jacob, shrugging as he gathered up the cards and put them in his jacket pocket.

"Yeah, we still have a ways to go before we get to Vegas." agreed Kate.

Goris was about to make a reply, but suddenly froze still – his eyes alert. "There are people outside." he said quietly to the bewildered facial expressions of Jacob and Kate.

"I don't hear anything." hissed Jacob, still confused.

"They are trying to be quiet." he replied, slowly rising to his feet.

A few moments of silence passed, and Jacob was about to ask if Goris had gone mad when the door was suddenly kicked open and several figures poured into the room.

Goris roared in anger and surprise, earning a panicked yell from their assailants who instinctively fired his hunting rifle at Goris' chest. The gunshot in the confined space of the room temporarily deafened Jacob as he dived across the room for Kate's pistol.

Shrugging off the enormous impact to his chest, Goris was about to strike at one of the attackers, only to find that one of them had rushed at him with a cattle prod. The charge was weak, but he was still unable to override the current flowing through his arm to crush the aggressor's skull. He was about to succeed when more figures came with cattle prods, and Goris began to succumb to the uncontrollable spasms that raced through his body.

Having dived across the room with ringing in his ears, Jacob scrambled for Kate's pistol. He brought it up towards the nearest adversary only to promptly have it knocked out of his hand again with a forceful blow. He managed to block another punch by his assailant, and was about to go on the offensive when another figure appeared, throwing all his weight into the punch that connected with Jacob's head.

All Jacob remembered was a deafening 'thud' that clashed horribly with his deafened state, and he found himself seeming to calmly float backwards. Staring up at the ceiling as he fell, he could see the monochrome shapes of his attackers standing over him, their faces blurred. He made an attempt to shout, but he quickly lost consciousness before he even hit the floor.


	13. Ball and Chain

THIRTEEN – Ball and Chain

Jacob woke up, refusing to open his eyes. What the hell happened? He could hear Goris' laboured breathing; the vibrations reverberating around Jacob's body and making him feel uncomfortable. Wriggling his numb hands, he had concluded that they had been bound - fantastic. Summoning up the courage, he slowly opened his eyes. Or at least, he opened one – the other was swollen shut.

Fighting off a headache for the second consecutive time, he was able to make out that he was in the metal shell of what looked to be a small trailer. Listening past Goris' breathing, he could make out the sounds of hooves and footsteps against the road surface. They were being taken somewhere, but Jacob could only speculate where.

How long had he been out for? Jacob felt incredibly groggy – had they been sedated? He then started as he realised that one of Goris' clawed feet was dangerously close to his stomach – if he had subconsciously kicked out, it would have been the end of him. What was he doing here, crammed into a trailer with a sleeping Deathclaw? And more importantly, where was Kate? He would have preferred to wake up next to her, rather than Goris of all things. Talk about awkward. Still, he was grateful that he wasn't on his own.

Where _was_ Kate? Did she escape? Did she… Jacob pushed the thought to the back of his mind. cautiously sitting up, he was about to think that it couldn't get any worse when he felt a heavy weight on his neck which pressed down on his shoulders. He felt at it with both his hands, but he already knew what it was.

A slave collar. "Oh, no…" groaned Jacob, under his breath. Just when he thought he had got away from this crap.

As if on cue, a deep guttural growl came from Goris' sleeping form. Despite their friendship, Jacob suddenly found himself terrified of him again. Would he be the Goris Jacob knew when he woke up? Even if he would, he had a _lot_ of explaining to do.

Shuffling into a corner to get as much room as possible, Jacob watched as Goris slowly dragged his claws across the metal floor, emitting another growl as if blaming him. Jacob then sighed to himself, this was all his fault.

Jacob daren't wake him up, as he would most likely be absolutely livid. Whether it would be the explosive or quiet kind, either prospect scared the living hell out of Jacob – at the end of the day, there was nothing worse than an angry Deathclaw.

"Hey, look who's woken up over here!" said one of the voices, walking over to the open doorway of the trailer.

"Well, well, well… If it isn't this 'Jacob Lowe' the boss was talking about." he said mockingly, walking alongside the doorway with a rifle slung across his arms. "You're a little fish making big waves, kid."

Jacob was suddenly tempted to give Goris a firm kick. Even if the move didn't release his wrath on everybody in the surrounding area, it would at least scare the smug bastard off. Jacob decided against it, instead giving his captor a silent leer.

"You know," continued the man, returning his stare as more figures gathered round to watch. "What really gets me is that you actually thought you could run away from us. Best not to try it again this time, or I'll turn your head into a firecracker."

"Screw you." growled Jacob, seething. He wanted to strangle him.

"Better watch your tone, boy." replied the slaver. "I thought you would have understood, given the situation you're in."

"Yeah…" he continued with an air of triumph, looking straight ahead. "Looks like you woke up just in time, by the way."

The man continued to taunt Jacob as they made their way through a chain-link fence and into the centre of the compound.

As the trailer came to a stop, the slaver made one last jab. "End of the line, kid."

Jacob was about to reply with the most malicious insult he could think of when Goris suddenly began to stir. Slowly propping himself up with his elbow, he calmly turned his horned head to face his captors.

The slaver's waning smirk was soon wiped clean off his face as Goris let out a long, throaty snarl, sending chills down Jacob's spine. He then ended his growl with a loud bark, sending the men staggering backwards in fright.

"Jesus, Troy!" exclaimed one of the slavers. "Why didn't you just kill it?"

The lead slaver called Troy shook his head. "Get out now." he ordered Jacob, his rifle raised. "Or I'll kill you, and your sick pet."

Jacob's mind screamed at him to resist, but he knew it was no use. Getting to his feet, he just managed to catch Goris' eye as he clumsily stepped out of the trailer. He was then immediately wrested by two of the slavers and promptly frogmarched away to a nearby building.

"Right." said one of the slavers, aiming his gun at the inside of the trailer. "What now?"

"We get it out." Troy responded, bluntly.

Goris had sworn to himself not to speak or show any form of intelligence, as he had concluded that it would be just as bad as a death sentence. But as much he liked to watch them squirm over their predicament, they were bound to lose patience eventually.

Silently stepping out of the trailer and rising to his full height, he noticed a figure holding a minigun just past the crowd of slavers nervously looking up at him. If he tried anything here, Jacob would die along with himself.

"Looks like it's pretty obedient." said one, hopefully.

"Whatever." said Troy. "Just get it into one of the pens before it changes its mind."

"What? With the slaves?" one retorted, incredulous.

"Sure." he replied, with an evil grin. "It would be interesting."

"As long as I'm not cleaning up."

"Wouldn't the boss be angry with that?" interjected another, obviously the more moral of the group – if the term could be applied to slavers.

"Nah." he replied. "Just throw it in with the ones that nobody wants. He won't care."

Goris was then led across the compound, his every move watched by slavers armed with guns and cattle prods. Goris found himself helpless – he, a Deathclaw, trapped under the thumbs of humans like some insect? What's more, he was completely powerless to save his only friend that he was certain to be still alive. Goris' inner Deathclaw screamed out to fight, to massacre every last one of them – but he exercised self-control. He was not a monster, as much as he may look like one.

He was reminded of the latter when they came to the gate of one of the pens, the response from the slaves a mix of disbelief and sheer, unbridled terror.

"No!"

"You can't be serious!"

"You're sick!"

With the slavers boxing him in, Goris had no choice but to walk through or get zapped. As Goris wedged himself through the comparatively tiny gate, the uproar from the slaves suddenly turned to an eerie hush. Looking across, every single one of his senses picked up the fear that he had unintentionally struck into their hearts. They were shaking uncontrollably, their faces pale. Some of the female slaves were weeping. Goris then inadvertently sighed, making them flinch. If only they understood.

"Have fun." said Troy with a sadistic smile, before sliding the crossbar shut with a loud 'bang'.

Ignoring the stares, he walked towards the corner opposite the one the slaves were huddled into. The pen was connected to a sheltered building, presumably for sleeping. Not even a human could survive a night in this desert out in the open.

Setting himself down while clutching his chest wound, he rested his head against the chain-link fence with a pained grimace. When the slaver shot him, the bullet had ricocheted off his ribcage just below his heart. Goris had managed to get away with a fractured rib, not death. He didn't believe in what humans called 'luck', but now he was starting to see why they did. He only hoped the wound didn't become infected – due to old age, his immune system wasn't what it used to be.

He then thought about Jacob. Goris had seen the look of guilt on his face as he left the trailer – was this what Jacob was hiding from him? He had noticed it shortly after they had first met, but Goris couldn't be sure exactly what it was – He had hidden it too well. He didn't blame Jacob – he probably thought it was all behind him. Goris could empathise, as he thought the same for his own past.

He just prayed that Jacob was going to survive his ordeal…

* * *

><p>Jacob was being half-dragged along; unable to see where he was going because of a burlap sack over his head. His heart pounded in his throat, and his mouth was as dry as the desert outside. It couldn't end like this.<p>

He could see a sudden change of light through the rough weave of the sack, and presumed they had entered another room. He felt a feeling of dread well up in his stomach as he was forcefully sat down on a chair – this is it.

"A visitor for you, boss." said one of the men behind him, sardonically. The sack was then ripped off Jacob's head, revealing the dingy room to him. He immediately saw the face of the man opposite, leaning on a wooden desk – the face that Jacob had vowed never to see again.

The man was overweight and far past middle-aged, with the dim light throwing shadows off the deep wrinkles sunken into his flabby face. However, his vigilant eyes belonged to a different man – there was not a trace of age to be found in them. The most striking feature about him though, was a large, faded tattoo of a hawk that decorated his forehead.

"Jacob Lowe!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in mock surprise. "It has been too _fucking_ long…" he added, making his way round the desk towards Jacob.

Jacob was silent as the man made his way towards him, leaning down to stop uncomfortably close to Jacob's face. "You haven't forgotten about us, have you?" he suddenly said, pointing at his tattoo for emphasis.

"No, Metzger." Jacob said, returning his stare. He reminded himself that this man was far past his prime now – he only intimidated through his ring of henchmen and the memory of an era long gone. "I was just wondering what took you so long." Jacob added, with a sarcastic bite to his voice.

Metzger moved away from his face with a menacing intake of breath, and Jacob braced himself to be struck by him. "Running away like a coward can only get you so far, Jacob." he said in its place, casually strolling behind him while Jacob forced himself to relax.

"Eventually…" he continued, the menacing tone rising in his voice. "You will have to face the music."

Jacob was then nearly taken off his chair by the punch that connected with the side of his head, taking all of his effort to sit back up again. He felt a feeling of wetness appear where he was hit, which tickled his face as it spread.

"You think you can fuck with me!" he suddenly yelled in Jacob's ear, shattering his earlier confidence.

"You ratting asshole! _You_ sold us out!" he continued, angrily pointing an accusing finger at Jacob, who sat with his eyes shut tight. "Do you want to know what happens to people who think they're smarter than me?"

"What do you want?" Jacob was supposed to yell, but it instead came out as a whimper.

"What do you think, you fuckwit?" Metzger said with a scowl. "I want you to pay."

"Just kill me." Jacob said, crushed.

"I don't think so." Metzger replied with a cruel grin, leaning away from Jacob's face. "I won't give you the satisfaction."

Jacob remained silent. Whichever way it ended, he was not going to enjoy this.

"No… I want to get paid with the thought of knowing that you will be cleaning up shit for the rest of your miserable life."

At that point the two slavers that brought him in returned, and pulled Jacob backwards off his chair by his shoulders.

"It's only fair." called Metzger sarcastically as Jacob was dragged out of the room.

After Jacob was led across the courtyard and thrown into one of the pens, he felt completely defeated. He was alive, with all his appendages still attached to his body, even. However, Jacob realised that he would be spending the rest of that life as a slave. Why didn't Metzger kill, or at least maim him? It was certainly not what Jacob had expected. Maybe being a slave ruled out torture? After all, Metzger wouldn't want to damage the 'merchandise'.

He sat down against the fence, looking into his lap and paying no attention to the other slaves. He had screwed up. What's more, he had selfishly brought others into this mess with him – he had betrayed Goris, and didn't even have a clue where Kate was.

Goris would probably get out of it at some point or another – the slavers thought he was more stupid than he actually was. All they needed to do would be to sell him as a hyped-up attack dog, and he would have a ticket out of here. But he would be left to wander the wasteland alone again, his hopes flattened.

As for Kate, Jacob prayed she was still alive. He had become ever so fond of her, and the thought of dragging her into this mess tore at his insides. Jacob wanted to yell out in frustration – he had traded a part of himself to do the 'right' thing, and now those vultures were coming back for what was left? Such is the injustice of wasteland life – it is there wherever you look.

Jacob trawled through his memories, and felt ashamed. He began running with New Reno's criminal underground several years ago, and had strong ties to Metzger and the slaver's guild. Jacob had turned into a monster – he had never truly become one of them, but the damage was done regardless.

This was not to last however, as while out drinking with his slaver 'friends' in New Reno, he looked at himself in the mirror and didn't like what he saw. Killing one of them in a drunken rage, he survived to tip off the NCR about it – who subsequently began to give them a very hard time indeed. Fast-forward to the present and here he was, his confession returning to bite him in the ass.

A few hours passed, with him lost in his guilt and barely taking any notice of the other slaves. He couldn't see Goris – the way the buildings were arranged made it impossible to see who was in the adjacent pens. Jacob was pretty much on his own. Suddenly, there was some sort of commotion in the centre of the compound which caught his attention.

"You set us up!" cried a figure as he was wrestled to the ground. A few seconds later, his unconscious form was hauled up again with a slave collar round his neck. The slavers dragged the body to Jacob's pen, casually threw him in and walked back without saying a word.

Jacob looked at the figure lying face down on the floor in front of him. He was a tall tough-looking guy, with shaved straw-coloured hair. On the back of his thick leather jacket, Jacob noted the words 'Great Khans'. The name rang a bell… probably some petty gang.

Shortly afterwards, he began to stir. "Are you alright?" Jacob called across to him from where he was sitting.

"No." he bluntly replied, holding a hand to his head. He precariously got to his feet and staggered over to Jacob. Half collapsing down nearby, he began cursing to himself under his breath.

"They screwed us over!" he gesticulated furiously to Jacob, venting his anger. "Just the same as they did to you."

"Actually…" said Jacob, sheepishly. "I screwed _them_ over."

"What?"

Jacob leant back and sighed. Could he confess his biggest mistake to a complete stranger? "Years ago, I fell in with the wrong crowd. I… did some dumb things. Turned out trying to get out of it all was even dumber."

"Ouch. Well, you've got guts… I'll give you that."

"Yeah…" said Jacob, sighing gustily. Was that always a good thing, though?

"What's your name?" asked the stranger.

"Jacob. You?"

"Doug."

Jacob acknowledged this with a nod, leaning back against the fence. Hell, at least he had someone to talk to now.

* * *

><p>The sun was starting to set, and the chill of the night was beginning to set in. Goris sat in the corner while trying to retain as much body heat as possible - he didn't even have his cloak to keep him warm now.<p>

Goris anxiously sharpened his claws – much to the discomfort of the slaves. Realising what he was doing, he quickly stopped and put his hands down again. Ever since he had been put into this pen, he couldn't stop fidgeting – the urge to start pacing itched inside his mind, but Goris forced himself to stay put. The slaves were still petrified of him, and he daren't even stand up for fear of upsetting them. Neither side could live like this for long.

He could tell they had mellowed slightly though – the smell of fear didn't completely fill his nostrils anymore, and they had started making the occasional remark about him. Their comments were mostly about how docile he was, and some were about his skin colour. A slave even pointed out that he looked worried.

"Yeah, I see what you mean." said one, quietly. "Don't know why you'd want to look at it though, it's hideous." he added, unaware that Goris could understand speech.

"Huh, I guess even Deathclaws know when they're slaves." replied another.

"Guys, it's still a living thing. Of course it knows." said a female voice. Unable to help himself, Goris turned his head to look at the person who spoke, silencing them in the process.

Beneath the grime that covered her face, the features of the human female seemed vaguely familiar to Goris. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out why. Realising he was staring at her, Goris quickly snapped his eyes away and looked at the ground in front of him. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and concentrated on Jacob.

Goris had seen him get dragged out of the building earlier, which took a huge load off his chest – at least _one_ of his friends was still alive. How they would get out of here posed a different problem, however. He could effortlessly get out of his pen, but the slaver with the minigun would probably mow him down before he even got close to freedom. Not that he would try to make a run for it himself, anyway. He wouldn't be leaving without Jacob. And all the other slaves, come to think of it.

As if on cue, Goris caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Peering through the fading light, he caught a strange humanoid-shaped shimmer heading towards him. The contour seemed be invisible save for the light refracting through it, and was the strangest thing Goris had ever seen.

"Goris!" it hissed. "It's Alex."

Goris' confusion immediately turned to surprise. After taking a quick glance at the slaves, he broke his silence. "What are you doing here, and do you know where Kate is?" he said, making a herculean effort to be as quiet as possible. Still, the slaves noticed regardless.

"I followed you here, And Kate is with me. Where's Jacob?"

Ignoring the bout of whispers from behind him and the huge feeling of relief in his chest, Goris spoke up again. "He's over there." he said, underhandedly pointing a clawed finger in the direction that Jacob was dragged in.

"Thanks" said Alex, and Goris could make out a nod. "I'll get you out of here."

"Be careful." urged Goris as Alex disappeared into the twilight.

Goris leant back, enormously relieved. However, he had also blown his cover, and was aware of the many incredulous eyes piercing into him as he sat there. How he wished he had his cloak to hide behind, just like what he always used to do.

* * *

><p>"Jacob, it's Alex… what the hell did they do to you!" said a voice, startled by Jacob's bruised face.<p>

The sudden mention of his name out of the blue nearly gave Jacob a heart attack – Alex was using a stealth boy to keep himself hidden from the slaver guards. Trust him to bring all his fancy brotherhood toys. Careening over to the chain-link fence, he had to use all of his effort to keep his voice to a whisper.

"Alex? What…?" Jacob sputtered, incredulous.

"Listen - Kate is with me, ok? I followed you here. I'm going to try and get you out."

"But how? Is the Brotherhood with you?" Jacob asked.

"I'm rogue, remember?" Alex replied. "No… It's just me and Kate." he finished in an uncertain tone.

"Go to the Great Khans." hissed Doug, clawing at the fence. "Go to Bitter Springs. They'll do something about it."

The contour of Alex seemed to nod in acknowledgement. It looked like he knew where it was.

"Tell Kate I'm sorry." Jacob whispered.

"I'll get you out of here." Alex repeated in a reassuring tone, and faded out of sight. Right now Jacob really regretted not initially trusting him.

"Friend of yours?" asked Doug after a few moments, impressed.

"Yeah." replied Jacob, breathing a sigh of relief. He had a chance to get out of here, and Kate was alive!

"Funny, I thought the Brotherhood kept themselves to themselves."

Jacob casually ran his hand through his hair. "This guy's the exception."

"I'll take your word for it."

They sat in silence for a few moments, until Jacob suddenly began to shiver slightly. "Should we go inside now? It's getting cold."

"Uh, yeah – sure." replied Doug, taken off-guard by the question. Jacob guessed it was because of his leather jacket. It was so thick it could probably stop a bullet.

As they entered the ramshackle building, Jacob remembered something. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he brought out the deck of cards from earlier. "You want to play some cards?" he offered.

"Sure, anything to take my mind off this crap." Doug replied, sitting down against the wall with a grunt.

Sitting down next to him, Jacob looked at the deck of cards in his hand and saw the Ten of Spades looking back up at him – reminding Jacob of Goris' first win at caravan. For reasons unknown, he was tempted to remark that a Deathclaw had touched these cards, but that would clearly make him look crazy.

* * *

><p>Goris watched the shimmering shape of Alex as he sneaked past the guards – thankfully, they didn't have the eyesight that Goris had. He was pondering over how Alex would get them out of here when he noticed a brave soul approach him.<p>

"You can talk?" she asked, shaking fearfully.

Looking round, Goris noticed it was the female that had stood up for him earlier. Eyeing her for a few moments, he nodded slowly.

"…You heard everything?" she said, nervously.

"Yes." said Goris quietly, with another nod.

"I'm sorry."

Goris then shook his head. "I'm used to it."

She then bit her lip. "Who was that you were pointing towards?"

"A friend… his name is Jacob." replied Goris, hesitantly.

"What is his surname?" she seemed to want to be sure of something.

"Lowe." Goris was confused, but didn't show it in his voice.

"…I'm his sister." she suddenly admitted, biting back tears.

Goris was dumbfounded - he was a fool for not seeing it before. As she began to break down before him, Goris knew he had to do something to comfort her. He beckoned her to sit down near him, as calmly as possible.

Grief must have overridden fear, for she did as she was asked – she flung herself down next to him, quietly weeping. Goris knew that humans sometimes found physical contact comforting, so he slowly put an arm round her relatively tiny body. Thankfully, she didn't object, and shuffled closer to rest against him.

"He came looking for me, didn't he?" she said, sobbing into Goris' chest. He could feel her glimmer of a heartbeat racing – this was obviously too much for her.

"It's going to be alright." replied Goris as softly as his gruff voice would allow, reassuring her while awkwardly rubbing her arm. Although she wasn't even his species, he couldn't complain about the feeling of her body heat against the chill of the dusk – being a mammal, she had it easy.

"Your skin is… really rough." she remarked, after she had calmed down.

"Does it matter?" replied Goris, tenderly. There was still a caring soul underneath.

"No, I guess not."

"Don't you feel cold?" she asked, after a long pause. "You're freezing."

Goris shrugged. "I'm cold-blooded."

"Why don't you come inside?"

Goris almost chuckled to himself – she reminded him of his mother, or at least what he could still remember of her.

"I would love to, but I don't want to frighten anybody." Goris said with a hint of playfulness. He knew she was trying to be friendly, but surely it was obvious? At least she was showing that she cared for him and not treating him like some monstrosity. Technically he _was_, but the case still stood.

"Would you rather die out here?"

She certainly had a point - if he dropped off to sleep here he wouldn't be waking up again. "No…" he admitted, uncomfortably.

Before she could respond, Goris asked a question of his own. "What is your name?"

"Helen. Do you… have a name?" she asked, uneasily.

"My name is Goris."

"Okay." she replied, acknowledging him with a nod. "Are we going to go inside?"

Goris inhaled deeply, savouring the clarity of the crisp dusk air. "Yes." he said bluntly, moving his arm to let Helen stand up.

He then rose to his feet himself, doing his best to ignore the pain and to fight off the feeling of numbness in his legs.

"You're hurt." noted Helen, eyeing his gunshot wound.

Goris shrugged. "Just a broken rib."

"_Just_ a broken rib?" she echoed, incredulous.

"It's nothing." said Goris. "I've been through worse."

Thankfully, she didn't pursue it, and Goris followed her to the door. Once inside, he ignored the stares and curled up next to her in the corner – Jacob needed to know about this, or maybe he already did but kept it secret? But if that was the case, why didn't he say he knew what happened to her…? Goris continued to muse until he eventually slipped away into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

><p>Once Alex was out of sight of the slaver compound, he turned off his stealth boy with an alarming (and ironic) whooshing sound. At least they were both ok, but he had to hurry.<p>

Walking along the road, he remembered following the slavers as they stormed the gas station. He wished he could have done something then and there and avoid this mess completely, but without a working gun it was as good as suicide.

Once they were gone Alex rounded up the distraught Kate, and quickly hid away Goris' cloak, their gear and Jacob's armour (They left it behind?). The pair then set off to follow them again – he couldn't leave Jacob after he had saved Alex's life.

"Are they alright?" asked Kate fearfully, stepping into view from a cluster of boulders.

"Yes." replied Alex, with a relieved sigh. "Jacob says he's sorry."

"Why's that?" she replied, baffled.

Alex hesitated, scratching the back of his head. "Err… I think people were after him."

Kate didn't relent. "Why would anyone want to go after him?"

"I don't know." said Alex, impatiently shaking his head. "We need to get them out of there."

After a frustrated exhale of breath, Alex continued. "One guy told us to go to the Great Khans for help."

"Wait, that's that tribe!" she recollected, finally remembering the name. "Aren't they against the NCR?

"I know… but it's the best chance we have. I doubt the NCR would be happy to see me if we went to _them_ about it."

"…Where are they?" said Kate, worryingly.

"At a place called Bitter Springs." replied Alex. "It's a long way."

Kate only nodded in acknowledgement, still very worried. Maybe they wouldn't make it in time, only to come back and find that they had been sold off? The thought of it spurred Alex into motion, who began the long journey north with Kate by his side.


	14. Sabotage

FOURTEEN - Sabotage

"Hey, Jacob – you still with us?"

Jacob immediately snapped back from his daydream – he was still fraught with worry, but the hope that he would soon be rescued continued to well up inside him. Hard to think that a few days ago, he was at the lowest of the low. His bruises had also healed up pretty well, and he guessed his face didn't look like a bruised tomato anymore.

"Sorry, I was miles away." he said to the group he was supposed to be participating in. It essentially consisted of himself, Doug and a few other slaves that they had been chatting with over the past few days.

"It's alright." replied Doug, repeatedly tossing a lump of plaster up with his hand while casually sat against the wall. If it wasn't for Jacobs's cards, the pair of them would have probably gone mad with boredom by now. Still, there were only so many hands you can deal before it begins to get tedious.

"Say, Jacob – what do you know about this 'Metzger' guy?" asked Doug.

Jacob gave a short laugh. "Our hate-hate relationship goes way back, he came from back west like me. Used to be the local authority of an entire town, more or less."

Doug whistled. "And you had the balls to screw with him?"

Jacob shrugged at what he guessed was a compliment. "The NCR was finally beginning to crack down on slavery anyway. I think his days are numbered."

That brought Jacob to a good point – why had the NCR let slavery run rampant for so long? From what he had learned, long before he was born Metzger's grasp used to extend to within sight the front gate of Shady Sands, with the NCR too lazy to even lift a finger. Downright shameful.

Come to think of it, the NCR were probably the _reason_ why Metzger was in the Mojave in the first place. Talk about a hypocrite – he was running as well.

"Huh, I would come to the same conclusion myself - sounds like a pussy if you ask me. I mean… Metzger? Did his mother really call him that?"

Doug's joke earned him a few laughs, and Jacob smiled – morale was certainly high. He reminded himself not to get too self-assured though – Metzger may be old, but his iron fist was still strong.

* * *

><p>Goris lay basking in the midday sun until the gate to his pen was opened, the unpleasant screeching sound rousing him from his doze. He lazily opened one eye in time to see a slaver hastily throw a few scraps of food in his direction before shutting the gate again. Goris yawned, and tried to piece together his dream. He remembered his childhood spent on the Enclave oil rig, imprisoned not dissimilar to what was happening to him right now. He didn't know why he even bothered. It wasn't like he had 'normal' dreams anymore – the post-traumatic stress from what he had been through had taken care of that.<p>

Fighting back a surge of anger, he reminded himself that he needed to be patient - if he had let his feral side take over on that oil rig, he would have been slaughtered. Instead his people had bided their time, waiting for the right moment to finally escape. No, he wasn't going to bite the hand that fed him… yet.

Grudgingly rising to a crouch, he slowly took a piece of raw meat and began to chew. He guessed that the saying could be taken literally as well as figuratively – if you could call it feeding him at all. Whether by accident or design, he was barely being fed more than the humans here, and it just wasn't enough. He weighed several times as much as one and was far taller – surely it was obvious?

Thankfully all the slaves were inside – they all still didn't want to go near him. As much as he disliked being left out like this, he also didn't like the thought of people watching him eat; his mouth was not really designed with etiquette in mind. Very strange, being born into a human world – was he human, or an abomination?

Goris pushed the thought to the back of his mind while wiping the blood off his chin. Those thoughts only served to confuse him. Rising off his knees, he began pacing. Risking a look through the fence, he caught this 'Troy' character strutting around as usual. It was as if this invertebrate thought it was above _him_? Ask no question, retribution will be sweet.

Yet again, Goris had to fight to keep his bloodlust in check. "I am not a monster." he quietly growled to himself, sitting back down. What would Gruthar have done in this situation? Sure, he was the strongest Deathclaw he had ever known, but he was also thoroughly against violence in any shape or form. Maybe that was his fatal flaw? Goris had learned the hard way that sometimes, some people just need to die.

Long ago, he would never have thought of these things. He had simply lived his cosy life in Vault 13, thinking the Enclave and their evil intentions were far behind him. He was the pack alpha's eldest son, on the cusp of adulthood – 'the world was his oyster' he believed the saying went.

Snorting in frustration, Goris laid down on his back again, stretching out his legs and tail. He remembered reading about oysters somewhere, having never seen one before. He figured the strange, shell-like things were probably long extinct – another species banished into history by the hands of man. From what he had gathered from his studies, humans found them a delicacy of sorts, being hidden away underwater and protected by a hard shell. He could only imagine what they tasted like – humans seemed to have enjoyed them, at least.

He also read that humans found the 'pearls' from inside their shells very valuable. Goris didn't fully understand humanity's materialistic nature, but he guessed that was where the saying came from.

However, if there was even the remotest chance of them still being alive, he wasn't too keen on going to look for them. For reasons Goris never understood, he hated the thought of swimming in large spans of water. Probably because he couldn't swim to save his life, but the point still stands.

He certainly didn't mind looking at water – his scholarly trips to San Francisco and along the coast allowed him to see the seemingly-unending ocean reaching off into the horizon. He actually found it quite relaxing, a perfect backdrop on which to philosophise. Many times he had simply sat on the beach and stared out towards the horizon, musing. Having been alone for so long, thinking was something he did very often – as his body weakened with age, his mind only grew stronger. Come to mention it, that's what he was doing right now.

Closing his eyes with a deep sigh, he hoped that Alex will come back to free them soon.

* * *

><p>Jacob sat towards the fence, peering through at the slaver scum on the other side. He wanted to know every single weakness to exploit by the time help arrived, but there was only so much he could surmise from the confines of his detention. He could clearly see the minigun-wielding slaver at his post on top of a raised platform, but that was obvious. The slavers wanted him there for all to see in case the slaves got any ideas.<p>

Examining the compound, he could see two other buildings besides the one linked to his pen. One of them was the building that Jacob was dragged out of a few days ago, and another was what he presumed to be a storage building of some kind. He had seen some of the slavers come out with boxes of ammunition occasionally, so he was certain it was an ammo dump as well. Right now there was a slaver standing beside the door, smoking a cigarette with a rifle hanging from a strap slung over his shoulder.

Deep in thought, Jacob found a plan begin to come together. Sure, Alex and Kate will hopefully arrive with help, but it was almost certain somebody was going to get killed by the slavers when it finally happened. He just needed to get to that building and back without getting caught.

"Hey, what's up?"

Jacob was suddenly roused from his thoughts with a start, and quickly snapped his head round to face Doug, who was walking across the pen towards him.

"Afternoon, Doug." Jacob shakily replied, beginning to regain his composure; the paranoia since Alex's appearance was beginning to set in.

"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost." asked Doug, casually sitting down next to him.

"Nothing." replied Jacob, hesitating before adding in a hushed whisper: "I think I have a plan."

Doug suddenly began to grin madly, and Jacob wondered if the potential danger had even got to him. "Let's hear it." came his short reply.

Despite the optimistic start, as Jacob explained his plan he couldn't help but notice the ever-so slight cynical quality appear in his voice and face. Hopefully his idea wasn't that mad, but you do funny things when you're desperate.

"It's a crazy idea, Jacob." Doug finally said, leaning back on his elbows with a sigh. "What if they catch you?"

Doug's uninspiring reply didn't dent Jacob's resolve. He _had_ to do this. If Alex or Kate died because of him, he would never be able to live with himself. All he needed was a diversion…

* * *

><p>Night had fallen, and Jacob had still refused to go inside - there was no way he would be able to sneak out in broad daylight. Shivering, he braved the cold and waited: all the while looking vigilantly for the smallest window of opportunity to show itself.<p>

It wasn't until he was about to give up out of fear of hypothermia when he was finally rewarded. Jacob spied the minigun-wielding slaver stride across the yard, calling something about radscorpions to the slaver guarding the storage building. After a brief exchange, the hesitant guard was then led away from the door and across the compound, out of sight. By this time Jacob had already entered the slave quarters, and was rousing Doug.

"Doug, wake up! It's now or never." hissed Jacob, hurriedly grabbing his shoulder. Doug awoke in an instant, and was quickly on his feet.

"Right." said Doug, surprisingly nervously. He then began striding towards the door, while fishing out a pair of long, thin pieces of metal out of the pocket of his leather jacket. Jacob followed him out into the crisp night air, shaking with nerves. There was no telling what would happen if the slavers caught him, but it wasn't going to be painless.

Sneaking across to the gate just to be sure, Doug started the process of picking the gate's padlock. Jacob crouched next to him, glad to have his expertise on his side – Jacob's lockpicking skills left little to be desired.

After a few tense moments, the padlock sprang open with a neat 'click', signalling the turn that Jacob had been dreading. Forcing himself to man up, he sneaked through the gate; earning a good-luck nod from Doug before he closed it behind him.

Jacob had barely taken his first few steps when he suddenly heard the distant sound of gunfire from outside the courtyard, instinctively dropping flat on his stomach. He heard the sound rise in a crescendo, followed by the unmistakeable roar of the minigun. Hopefully they were going to be kept busy for a while.

Certain that the shots weren't aimed at him; Jacob got to his feet again and continued creeping across the deserted compound under the cover of darkness, darting from cover to cover. The distraction was working its magic for now at least, but he only had a few minutes. Would his plan work? There were so many variables, so many things that could go wrong. However, Jacob fought back his doubts – there was no going back now.

Having finally reached the now-unguarded door, he prayed as he quietly pushed it open. Once he was confident there were no slavers in the same room, he began attempting to keep his breathing in check again.

He hurried to the shelves of ammunition that he had spotted from across the room, and set about his plan. Grabbing the heavy dry storage boxes, he began emptying their contents wherever he could, hidden away from the unknowing eye. Returning to the shelves, he set about another set of boxes, with the word "blanks" carelessly scrawled on the sides.

Opening it up, he began to fill all the magazines he could find with them, although he had to leave a single live round at the top just in case a particularly observant slaver noticed; the bullet at the top of the magazine was visible, and blanks looked too different to risk it. The compromise wasn't what Jacob wanted, but it was a compromise he had to make.

His numb hands continued to work frantically, knowing he didn't have much time. At any moment now, a slaver could walk through the door. Either that, or maybe they were waiting on the outside for him? The thought didn't bear thinking about.

As he pushed the final bullet home, he didn't think he could set it back down on the shelf faster if he tried. Jacob then rushed across the room again, almost slipping on the bullets that he had clumsily dropped on the floor a few seconds before.

Expecting the sinking feeling of dread that could follow opening the door, Jacob found that his luck was still holding. Repeating the same process of darting from cover to cover, he risked a glance towards the front gate to find that an enormous group of slavers were on their way back. Thankfully they didn't look like they had noticed him, but it rattled him all the same.

Fighting the panic that was welling up inside him, Jacob made his way back to the pen with Doug on the other side watching his every move.

Jacob dived through the gap that had been opened for him, with Doug quickly snapping the padlock shut. "You are one crazy bastard!" he said in awe as Jacob lay panting on the ground. "Did it work?"

Jacob gave a breathless nod, simultaneously running a hand through his hair. "I can only hope." he managed to whisper, just moments before the slavers appeared into view.

"Kickin' ass as usual, Gunner!" said one, towards the minigun-wielding slaver.

"It's a living." he casually replied.

"Alright, alright – let's just get rearmed and back on post before Metzger gets pissed." said an impatient Troy, while heading towards the storage building.

Jacob returned to a hero's welcome once he was back at the slave quarters, with people enthusiastically congratulating him in quiet celebration. Feeling the nerves dissipate from his body to be replaced with relief, Jacob couldn't help but grin. Had he redeemed himself? Not really. But it was at least a start.


	15. Jailbreak

FIFTEEN - Jailbreak

The morning after Jacob's sabotage mission saw morale reach new heights. Jacob's fellow slaves were chatting, laughing and joking as if they were already free. Jacob joined in of course, but an itch in his head told him that they really needed to keep it down in case the slavers noticed.

"Hey, Doug." Jacob said, after a bout of deep thought. "What did you get thrown in here for, anyway?"

"Err…" he said, hesitating. "The guys back home had worked out a deal with Metzger for the recipes and equipment for making chems. Should have known it was too good to be true."

"I suppose they won't be happy when they find out what happened?" Jacob asked.

"Nope."

That was a good sign; hopefully they weren't going to ignore Alex and Kate when they ask for help. Actually, maybe they were on their way now? Jacob didn't know – being held in this pen for so long had scrambled his sense of time. Still, he remained hopeful.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the compound Goris was far less optimistic. He practiced writing in the dirt with a claw, trying in vain to entertain himself. Gruthar had taught him patience, but in these circumstances it was little use; trapped in this pen, revenge took priority no matter how hard he tried to be rational.

He wiped out the writing with his hand once he realised what he was doing; thankfully, none of the slavers saw. Having been denied another form of entertainment, he looked up in time to notice that Helen had decided to socialise with him for the first time in days.

"Hey." she said, walking up to him. "What was that you were doing just now?"

"Hello." Goris replied, eyeing her as she sat down. He could tell she was still uncomfortable. "Just some writing, I was bored." he admitted, sheepishly.

"You can write?" she said with an impressed facial expression, before awkwardly catching herself. "Um, sorry for not talking to you in ages."

"It's okay." Goris had come to accept being the kind of person (or thing) you only met once; after all, he just had that effect on people. "Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you." Goris continued, while slowly leaning back to a more comfortable position. "Did they catch you in New Reno?"

"Wait, Jacob told you what happened?" Helen replied, startled.

"No." said Goris, with a shake of his head. "He just told me you went there and disappeared. I suppose that's all he knew."

"They just dragged me off the street." she muttered, perplexed. "But why are you here if Jacob didn't know about me?"

"They found us." Goris said with a shrug. "I don't know why." Goris didn't want to blame Jacob, especially since he didn't know the full story.

"Right…" replied Helen in a puzzled tone.

While about to reboot the conversation, Goris noticed the door to the main slaver building open. "Best to stay away from me," said Goris in a hushed tone towards Helen. "They don't know I can talk."

While Helen awkwardly shuffled across the pen, Goris saw Metzger for the "first" time; emerging from the building flanked by Troy. Goris knew about this man from his travels long ago, and he was surprised to see that he was still alive. "Criminals" in the wasteland rarely have a good life expectancy, but he supposed someone as powerful as Metzger was the exception to the rule.

However, if Metzger really was that powerful why didn't he show it? If Goris hadn't been told of who was in charge, he would have assumed Troy to be the leader. Was Metzger afraid of the sunlight or something?

Come to think of it, maybe it was because he was ugly. That absurd tattoo certainly didn't help, hard to think that _all_ slavers used to have it.

Goris' train of thought was interrupted as another pair of figures came into view, heading towards Metzger and Troy. They were clad in the same armour as the group that had attacked the NCR caravan a few days ago, presumably members of "Caesar's Legion".

* * *

><p>Jacob also silently observed the exchange, watching with bated breath as other slaves gradually became aware of what was happening. Were they here because of him? Did they know about his involvement with the NCR?<p>

His fears weren't helped when he saw Metzger casually gesture in his direction. "Oh no…" Jacob muttered.

Before he knew it, the pen door had been opened and a pair of slavers was in amongst them. To Jacob's surprise, they walked straight past him; but instead to his horror they brutally wrested two female slaves from the floor, their frantic protests having no effect.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Jacob found himself yelling, getting to his feet and rushing to break them apart. They were so close to being freed – he couldn't let them get sold off now.

The audacity of his actions also prompted others to get on their feet and shout abuse at the slavers, but none risked physical violence like what Jacob was doing – not even Doug. Was Jacob that crazy?

In the ensuing confusion, Jacob suddenly caught the figure of Troy appear, armed with a furious look on his face and a cattle prod in his hand. Ramming the weapon into Jacob's midsection, he promptly dropped to the ground with a silent scream; not even having a chance to fight back.

Troy then threateningly waved the cattle prod in an arc towards the slaves, yelling something inaudible; in Jacob's dazed state, everything sounded like it was underwater. As far as he could tell, Troy was angry and Jacob had probably made the last mistake he will ever make.

Too stunned to get up, he was resigned to his fate. Expecting a bullet to the back of the head, Jacob was torpidly surprised to find himself being carried off, by what he presumed to be Troy's order. Where were they taking him?

* * *

><p>Goris had heard the sudden uproar, and simultaneously saw Metzger angrily gesticulate towards the direction of the noise, as well as towards his own pen. Sitting on his haunches, Goris could only watch and listen.<p>

He then saw the legionaries leave with a pair of slaves, completely unconcerned about the fight that had just started. Goris bristled with anger, but there was nothing he could do about it. So close…

Goris had other things to worry about however – a group of slavers were making their way to his pen, led by Troy. They walked quickly and purposefully - something was definitely wrong.

After an agonising wait, they threw open the door and walked across the pen; taking care to stay as far away from Goris as possible. Meanwhile, Troy had hung back and waited at the gate.

"Goris!" exclaimed Helen as she was grabbed by the slavers, who began to frogmarch her terrified form towards the exit to the pen. Rising to his feet with a roar and adopting a threatening stance, Goris tried to scare them away from her; but to no avail. They only quickened their pace, fearfully glancing back.

As Helen was dragged through the gate, Goris was about to lunge for them when he was interrupted by a loud gunshot. Standing stock still, he slowly turned his head to focus on Troy, who had brought his 10mm pistol up in the air and fired a single bullet. Unbeknownst to them both, he had sealed his fate.

Lowering his weapon, he casually walked to within a few yards of Goris; separated only by the chain-link fence. "I know you understand speech, Deathclaw." he snarled, pointing the weapon towards Goris' head. "I saw you in Novac. I'll keep it simple: make any move, and I'll kill you."

Regarding the stupid human with narrowed eyes, Goris could easily tell he was bluffing. Looking over Troy's shoulder, he saw the minigun-wielding slaver silently observe the standoff between them; occasionally spooling up the huge weapon in anticipation. Goris wasn't that stupid.

He then looked across to the crowd that had formed in the centre of the compound, to see the figure of Jacob get thrown at Metzger's feet. The slavers continued to hold Helen a fair distance away however. This was all happening too fast – what was going on?

As the reality of the situation set in, Goris began to feel what was left of his rationality slip away to be replaced with pure, feral rage. They were making an example of his friend, who was one of the rare people to truly understand him for what he was.

Goris tensed up, resisting the urge to strike out. He could almost strangle Troy with the veins that webbed across his hands and up his arms, which were swollen with indignation; how he longed to wipe that smirk off Troy's face…

* * *

><p>Jacob was thrown face-first into the ground at Metzger's feet, amid jeering from the crowd of slavers that had gathered around them. Jacob barely had the chance to spit out the dirt in his mouth before Metzger walked across his body and hauled him up to his knees by the neck, the cold metal of the slave collar constricting his windpipe.<p>

"Look who we got here!" Metzger said into Jacob's ear. "You would love to see who we have brought along."

Disgusted by Metzger's breath, he forced himself to look up. The shock at seeing Helen, his sister, held by a pair of slavers made his head spin and nearly sent him unconscious again. "Helen?" he cried out in disbelief, still being held by Metzger.

"Jacob!" she replied, equally shocked before being thrown to the ground.

"That's right, say hello to your scumbag of a brother!" laughed Metzger, obviously enjoying the scene unfolding before him. "He's the reason you are here."

"Helen, I can explain!" Jacob pleaded, inwardly groaning from the crushed expression on her face.

"I don't think so." interrupted Metzger. "You've had your last chance." he added with a twisted smile, lifting a 9mm pistol in Helen's direction.

Jacob wanted to scream, but could only manage a whimper. He pressed his eyes shut, hoping he was unconscious and that it was all a dream.

An eternity seemed to pass, before an enormous explosion pounded his eardrums. Opening his eyes, he found that it had not come from Metzger, but instead found that the gates to the compound had been blown open. A mass of Great Khans began to pour into the compound, and Jacob could make out Kate and the power-armoured form of Alex through the throng, their guns at the ready.

As they opened fire, he caught Metzger recoiling at the sudden carnage, dropping his pistol and running towards the compound's main building. Diving towards the weapon, Jacob picked it up and scrambled to his feet – kicking up dust as he did so. He hoped Helen could find cover on her own, because he wasn't going to let Metzger get away.

* * *

><p>"To be honest, wiping another one of you monsters off the face of the earth would be great for my ego." Troy said, just before the explosion hit. Goris didn't see where it came from, but seeing the startled form of the minigun slaver whip round to face the new threat was all he needed.<p>

Thrusting his right hand through the fence as if it weren't even there, Goris grabbed Troy by the midsection. Memorising the look on his face for a moment beforehand, Goris then savagely dragged him back through the hole. Troy was fast enough to apparently fire a bullet aimed at between Goris' eyes, but it had no effect except to temporarily deafen him.

Wrenching the gun out of his hand and subsequently breaking his arm with an ear-splitting "snap", Goris lifted Troy off his feet and slammed him into a nearby wall as hard as he could.

Moving his left hand to hold Troy steady, Goris drove all his hatred through the slaver's torso; sliding his claws beneath his ribcage and then hoisting him up to eye level.

"The feeling is mutual." Goris snarled, inches from Troy's face. He relished Troy's plight as he spluttered out blood; his eyes rolling in terror. Goris savoured the sight for a few moments more, before grabbing Troy's shoulder with his left hand and tearing a hole out of his midsection with the other.

Letting the limp body fall to the ground, Goris tore his way through the fence and sprinted towards the minigun slaver. Having temporarily ducked for cover to reload, he had just finished when he saw the furious figure of Goris running towards him. Spooling the enormous weapon up, he swung it in Goris' direction.

The minigun didn't even have a chance to fire as Goris wrenched it out of the slaver's hands, and promptly clubbed him over the head with it; the colossal force of the impact sending his limp form falling from the raised platform. Tossing the still-spinning weapon aside, he jumped off the platform and set to work on the others.

Meanwhile, Jacob was sprinting across the compound in pursuit of Metzger, with his gun in hand. Pulling the slide back on-the-fly, he noted the single live round in the chamber. If that was the only one, it was all he needed. Flicking the slide closed, he ducked through the crossfire and chased Metzger into the compound's main building.

Smashing the brittle wooden door in with his shoulder, he was greeted by an empty room with two doors leading to separate corridors. The only time he had ever been in here was with a bag over his head, so he wasn't confident of the right choice.

Relying on gut feeling, he ran across the room and knocked one of them off its hinges with a well-timed kick. Rushing through the frame with his gun drawn, he proceeded along the corridor, making no attempt at slowing down. He knew precisely what Metzger was going to do, and he was going to make sure he was stopped before he had a chance.

Jacob turned a corner to find Metzger, about to enter the door of what looked to be his office. "Stop right there!" Jacob yelled, firmly holding the pistol with two hands.

Metzger froze, his hand resting on the door handle. Looking up, he met Jacob's stare. "Do you really think you have the balls to shoot me, kid?" he warned, seemingly indifferent of the fact he had a loaded gun pointed in his direction.

"Yeah." Jacob bluntly replied, taking a step forward - he only had one shot at this. "You are nothing but a cowardly old man."

"You don't know how much shit you're in." Metzger reattempted with fear rising in his voice, leading Jacob to squeeze the trigger even tighter. "You don't have a clue."

Metzger suddenly exploited Jacob's moment of hesitation by swinging the door open, using it to shield himself before diving into his office. Jacob cursed, running over to the door with his pistol at the ready. It was now or never.

Stopping in the doorway, Jacob dropped his right hand down and fired. Metzger was at his desk, fumbling for a large black detonator before the bullet passed directly through his forehead, obliterating the hawk tattoo and sending him slumping backwards against his chair.

Getting his breath back for a few seconds, he slowly lowered his pistol. "Thanks, dad." he whispered, throwing the weapon aside before walking towards Metzger's corpse. After checking the desk and then his body, he found a keycard that he used to unlock his slave collar.

Weighing the heavy steel collar in his free hand, he decided he was going to put it where it belonged. Clicking it shut over Metzger's neck, he muttered a brief "Goodbye, Metzger." before walking out of the room with the keycard in his hand. At last, revenge on the man who had made his life a living hell.

* * *

><p>Goris lunged at a slaver, sending him down with a single decisive swipe. Being on the very edge of death, he had never felt more alive; after all, violence was the sole reason he existed – wasn't it?<p>

Now wasn't the time for philosophical nonsense, he had slavers to eviscerate. Picking up a truck tyre, he slammed it into the nearest slaver with all his strength. While straightening up from the exertion Goris felt several stings race up along his back as he was caught by a volley of bullets – maybe his civilised self would have winced, but right now he paid no attention. He wasn't that weak.

Goris followed up by charging towards another slaver and dispatching him with an upwards slash strong enough to send the victim somersaulting several feet into the air. Looking around, he soon discovered that there were no more slavers to kill and the gunfire had stopped.

"Goris, are you alright?" said the figure of Alex trotting towards him, after taking off his helmet. Goris could easily hear the element of fear in his voice, as well as from his facial expression.

"You could have come sooner." Goris growled, turning round to face him directly.

"I'm sorry Goris, we did our best." muttered Alex, guiltily looking at the floor from Goris' condemnation.

Goris shook his head, instantly regretting blaming him. "It's alright." he said apologetically, patting Alex on the shoulder while moving towards the slave pens; his claws making a tapping sound on Alex's reinforced steel pauldron.

Giving a nod to Kate as he walked past, Goris reflected on her aggressiveness in the heat of battle. Funny, he thought she didn't have it in her.

Trudging past the bodies of the slavers, he noticed the Khans where threateningly pointing their weapons at him, distrust obvious on their faces. "Don't start that shit, alright?" Goris thundered, sending them shrinking back.

"And stay back" Goris thought to himself as he made his way to the gate of one of the slave pens. Grabbing the frame with one hand, he promptly snapped the steel crossbar and tore the gate off its hinges. He may be in a foul mood, but he still had a moral compass.

Having freed the slaves, Goris was at least expecting some response. Instead they imply sat there, staring. Turning away with a grunt, he walked back to the congregation in the centre of the courtyard. He didn't know precisely where Jacob or Helen was, but the thought of looking for them hadn't fully sunk in yet.

That is, until he got closer and overheard the conversation. "Where's Metzger?" said one of the Khans, followed by a "Where's Jacob?" from Kate. Realisation dawning, Goris hurried to the building where he had seen them enter.

* * *

><p>Walking across towards the exit, Jacob's heartbeat still hadn't returned to normal levels. Once he got outside he felt that he had a lot of explaining to do… especially to Helen. How on earth was he going to talk his way out of this?<p>

Jacob walked into the outside air, only to come face to face with Goris. He looked terrifying – his body was dripping with the slaver's blood, mingling with his own from several bullet wounds that had been punched into his slate-grey hide. His threatening appearance was backed up by the bared teeth and the savage expression in his eyes. God, his _eyes_! Jacob had never seen him this angry.

"…Hello Goris?" Jacob said, uncertainly looking up at his towering form.

"Is Metzger dead?" said Goris, his eyes boring down into Jacobs.

"Yes." replied Jacob, slowly nodding his head. "I'm really sorry, Goris." he added, after an uncomfortable pause. "Please don't hurt me" Jacob thought, bracing for Goris' reaction.

"You have a right to be." came his blunt response.

Jacob was about to make a reply, but the figure of Helen running towards him caught his attention. "Helen, I…" he managed to say, before being slapped in the face.

"You asshole!" she exclaimed, biting back tears. "This is all your fault!"

"I made a mistake, okay?" he desperately replied. "I slipped up."

"A lot of good that does me." she retorted. "Do you have any idea how long I've been here, being bought and sold like some object?"

"You're not making me feel any better." Jacob replied, before biting his lip.

"Then how do you think I feel?" she exclaimed, hysterically gesticulating.

"I thought I did the right thing! How was I supposed to know they would come looking for you?"

"You know what, forget it, I don't want to know what you did." Helen said, dismissing him with an agitated wave of her hand. "I just don't want to be near you anymore."

"Where will you go?" Jacob said, trying to make her see reason.

"How should I know? Wherever the others go." she said, before storming off.

Becoming conscious of the small crowd that had gathered to watch, he made his way towards the figures of Alex and Kate; biting back the tears that burned his eyes.

"Hey, Jacob." said Doug, hurrying up to him and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You okay, man?"

"Nah." he managed to say, shaking his head.

"You're a hero, Jacob. You helped save all of us."

"Maybe." Jacob muttered. "Where will you go now?"

"My guys want me back at Bitter Springs."

"Fair enough." Jacob said, before remembering the keycard. "The key for the collars." he said, holding it up for Doug to take.

"Thanks again, Jacob." he said with a smile, unlocking his collar and letting it drop to the floor. "Don't kick yourself so hard, you did all you could." he added, before walking away with the keycard in his hand.

Nodding to Doug as he left, Jacob suddenly found Kate hanging onto him in an embrace. "I'm so glad you're alright!" she said into Jacob's shoulder.

"Yeah…" he replied, unenthusiastically returning the gesture. "I'm so sorry, this is my fault." he finally said.

"It doesn't matter, you're free now." she said, reassuringly rubbing his back.

"Thanks, Kate." Jacob replied, giving her a squeeze.

After Jacob was released from Kate's arms, he turned to face Alex. "Thanks for the rescue." Jacob said, managing a smile.

"Not a problem." Alex cheerfully replied, with Jacob's light machine gun slung across his arms. Good to see that a use had finally been found for it.

Jacob looked around, taking a deep breath. "Should we just go?" he finally said, noticing Goris standing nearby with his arms crossed.

"Yeah sure, I've stashed our stuff nearby." Alex said, turning to leave.

* * *

><p>As soon as they got there, Jacob reluctantly put on the power armour that Goris had so generously gave to him a week before. Seeing as he believed that Goris hated his guts, he didn't feel entitled to wear it.<p>

Thankfully, Goris didn't seem to mind. All he did was pick up his robe and wait, choosing not to wear it. Jacob didn't know what went on in his mind half the time, but he guessed it was because he still had blood and gore splattered across his torso.

When they were finished, the group walked north – for lack of a better direction to head in. Since the events of the past few days, being a mercenary was now low on Jacob's list of priorities. He walked on in silence, hiding behind his helmet; he wasn't in the mood for talking. He had barely exchanged words at all with both Alex and Kate, and none whatsoever with Goris.

It wasn't long before they stopped for lunch, something Jacob was glad Alex had brought up - after a week in slavery, he was starving. The trio sat on the ground, eating whatever was edible from Jacob's rucksack. Goris sat away from the group, ravenously chewing at a bighorner that he had hunted down and killed.

"What about my sister?" Jacob suddenly said, thinking aloud.

"She'll be alright." Kate said, holding her hand across to rest on his knee.

"Yeah, don't worry so hard." chipped in Alex.

Jacob only sighed. He had finally seen her for the first time in years, and then she just goes and storms off? Looking back, he wasn't surprised.

"Alright, let's get going." Jacob finally said in a dismissive tone, rising to his feet. They were right, there was no use worrying.

While he was about to put his suit of armour back on, Jacob looked across at Goris. He had practically stripped the bighorner bare – he must have been starving.

"Jacob, there is something I want to tell you." said Goris, breaking the tension between them. "I didn't do you any favours earlier, and I would like to humbly apologise."

Jacob looked up at his face, and saw that he was completely sincere. "That's alright."

"I wasn't myself back there, I was something else."

He was right about that one, he wasn't Goris – he was a Deathclaw. The mere thought of it made Jacob uneasy – he could have chewed his head off, literally.

"…Can we still be friends?" he continued, tentatively.

"Yeah, of course!" replied Jacob, taken completely by surprise. He thought he would have to ask that question himself. "I'm sorry for getting you into that mess."

Before Jacob knew it, Goris locked his arms around him in a bone-shattering hug, forcing the air out of his lungs. "Nobody's perfect." Goris said, before putting Jacob back on solid ground and letting go. Thankfully, the blood had dried by now.

As they navigated the terrain which frequently became very rocky, Jacob thought of what he was going to do next. He eventually pushed it to the back of his mind – there was no use thinking about it here, he needed to sleep on it.

It wasn't long before they found themselves at the edge of a giant dry lakebed, the other side barely visible through the haze. "That's quite something." noted Alex, with a low whistle.

"So, what's the plan?" said Kate.

"I don't think it's a good idea to go across." replied Jacob – it wouldn't be very pleasant, at the very least. "We should skirt round the outside."

"Yeah, good idea." said Alex, seeing merit in his proposal.

The group spent most of the day following the cliff that had rose on the edge of the lakebed, sheltering them from the harsh winds that whipped up the dust and sent it bowling across the featureless landscape.

Jacob walked behind, checking his pip-boy. Looking up, he noticed Goris had finally put his cloak on; leaving enormous clawed footprints behind as he walked onwards.

"We need to think about calling it a day soon." Jacob finally said. He was definitely coasting, to say the least – slavery had sapped his strength.

"Where do you suggest we go?" Alex jokingly replied, spreading his arms out to the wasteland as if asking it for answers.

"We'll probably come across somewhere." Jacob replied with a smile.

In time, they eventually did. "Hey, look what I told you!" said Jacob, pointing at a wooden door built into the side of the cliff.

"Looks like an old mine." replied Alex, carefully stepping over the boulders to inspect it closer; his steel boots didn't offer much grip.

"Is it safe?" said Kate, concerned at what might be waiting inside.

"Let's find out." responded Jacob, confidently striding to follow Alex. Thankfully, his boots had a composite rubber tread on them. Sure, the Enclave were sick, but there was no beating their technology.

"Right, what's the plan?" said Goris as they gathered outside the door.

"Err…" said Jacob, hesitating. "You and I go first; Alex and Kate can follow behind." Jacob had night-vision built into his helmet, and Goris had the natural equivalent. "Use it as a light." Jacob said, passing his pip-boy to Kate.

"Right, let's have a look-see." said Jacob after a pause, hoisting his assault carbine into position and slowly opening the door with an alarming creaking noise.

Stepping into the gloom, he activated his night-vision with a whining sound. It steadily increasing in pitch until it was no longer audible, leaving Jacob with an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional unidentifiable sound.

After seeing the tunnel light up in a ghostly green, he signalled to the others, nearly blinding himself by looking at the entrance. Blinking madly, he silently cursed to himself. How was he supposed to know night vision did that?

Goris trudged towards Jacob, taking up position beside him. "Let's go." Goris said.

Progressing down the tunnel, Jacob could see the light behind him sending shadows flying off the stalactites that decorated the ceiling. Jacob was mesmerised, it didn't look real!

Jacob's thoughts were interrupted when he heard an ominous skittering sound fill his ears. Hopefully because of the lumbering form of Goris walking alongside him, they would be left well alone.

The group continued until the glinting of metal caught Jacob's eye up ahead. Hurrying closer, Jacob and Goris suddenly stopped when they realised what it was.

"Hey guys, what's the matter?" asked Kate, before the pip-boy illuminated what was in front of them. "Whoa." she whispered.

"Is it real?" asked Jacob, towards the mute form of Goris.

"Yes. It's real."


	16. Rust

SIXTEEN - Rust

"Never thought I'd see one of these." Alex remarked, looking up at the enormous vault door that blocked their progress. The light from Jacob's pip-boy reflected off the sheen of dampness that had covered the surface, and Jacob could make out the number eleven displayed in the centre of the gear-shaped mass of metal; the entire thing had been tarnished by the rust from years of contact with water.

"Me neither." added Jacob, trying to find the right words. He was awestruck by accidentally stumbling across one of the fabled vaults, to say the least.

"Should we open it? Are there people in there?" asked Kate, inquisitively.

Jacob paused, unsure of what to do. He looked across at Goris, realising he had been mute the whole time. He was pulling that facial expression again, the one Jacob had since learned to interpret as being upset.

Jacob took off his helmet with a soft hissing sound, letting the cold air hit his face before ruffling his hair with a free hand. "You alright, Goris?" Jacob asked, concerned; it didn't look like he was taking it very well.

"Yes, I'm fine." he replied, after a loud sigh. "It's just come as a shock, that's all."

"Let's open it up!" said Alex all of a sudden, plucking up the courage to walk over to the control panel built to one side of the colossal door. After deliberating for a few seconds with his finger hovering over the keys, he suddenly threw up his arms in an impatient shrug. "I don't know what all of this means." he said, turning to the others, evidently flustered.

"Are you serious?" laughed Jacob, hardly believing his ears. An ex-brotherhood soldier who doesn't know how to open a door?

"I don't know what anything does, alright?" retorted Alex. "If I make a wrong move, it will probably blow up or something."

"I don't think that's likely!" replied Jacob, shaking his head in amusement. "It's just a fallout shelter."

"Yeah, well you never know with this pre-war tech. You'd think they would have at least left a map for the 'on' switch."

"Allow me." said Goris, walking up to look over Alex's shoulder. While he moved out of the way, Goris shuffled into position and leant over the control panel, concentration etched on his reptilian face. "It's unlocked, at least." he said, his huge hands resting on either side of the steel surface.

After raising one of his hands and scratching at his neck with a single claw, he brought it down again to carefully press a few buttons. After overcoming the difficulty of such a delicate task, he then slowly brought a lever down, triggering a faint beeping sound.

Standing back with the others, the group watched as the beeping noise suddenly stopped, and after a pause a siren started to wail.

"Is it supposed to do that?" asked Alex, an air of worry in his voice.

"Trust me, I have done this before." Goris simply replied.

Jacob was about to reply when the door was suddenly pulled away from the other side with a hideous screeching sound, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut in pain.

"Vault 13… didn't do that." said Goris through gritted teeth as the door rolled to one side, and revealed the vault's interior. Jacob was surprised, to say the least. The whole place was… dirty. Weren't vaults meant to be sterile, clean places? This one had certainly seen better days – wires were hanging from the ceiling, junk littered the floor and wherever you looked there was the brownness of rust.

The group stood still, hesitating at the unwelcoming sight before them. "This isn't a good idea." said Kate, obviously intimidated.

"But what about the technology hidden away here!" replied Alex, unable to contain his excitement. Jacob wasn't surprised, seeing as he was brought up to hoard pre-war technology. As for himself, he was unsure of what to do – part of him agreed with Kate, to just walk away… but at the same time he wanted to know what was inside.

"I think we should at least have a look." said Jacob, after a long pause. Walking away obviously wasn't an option - who knows, it may be the only time he would come across a vault in his entire lifetime.

"It's alright Kate, We won't be long." said Alex, persuading her to grudgingly follow him as he made his way to the entrance.

As Jacob went to join them, he noticed that Goris was even more reluctant than Kate was. He simply stood there, mute, apparently waiting for Jacob to take the lead. It wasn't everyday Goris showed nerves – as far as Jacob knew, he was practically immune to them.

"We don't have to go in if you don't want to."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'll be fine." Goris replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, beginning to walk towards the entrance.

"Are you sure? it…"

"…Happened over thirty years ago." he completed. "Yes, I'm sure."

Jacob gave a quick shrug before following Goris in - he always acted this weird whenever his past was concerned, although Jacob couldn't blame him. As the rock underfoot turned to steel and he stepped into the dim light, he noticed that Alex was already animatedly cooing over technology. He was hunched over a table on the other side of the entrance hall, his helmet resting to one side. Kate stood to one side, quietly observing.

Gingerly stepping around a group of skeletons strewn across the floor, Jacob made his way towards them. He noted the bullet holes in each of their skulls as he walked past – at least they were quick deaths.

"What's up, Alex?" Jacob said in a bemused tone, unable to see what he was hunched over due to the broad armour he was wearing.

"It's a terminal." he replied, looking over his shoulder. As Jacob stood next to him to examine the ancient computer, he saw it was in remarkably good condition. The CRT screen seemed to be working… just.

"Ah, come on!" Alex said impatiently, whacking it a few times. This move earned a satisfying booming sound from the machine's metal casing, and the screen seemed to stabilise.

"What's the plan?" Jacob asked, not entirely sure of Alex's goal.

"It could still be hooked up to the mainframe." Alex replied, as if it was obvious. "I could find out what happened here."

"Can you really do that?" said Kate, impressed.

"Sure thing, I just need to find the security footage." he replied with a smile.

Jacob looked over his shoulder as Alex tapped away at the keyboard, hardly able to decipher what was being displayed on the screen. He preferred the term 'nuts and bolts' to 'bits and bytes', and never really cared much about the latter.

Goris looked on silently as Alex worked, leaning against the wall. Things seemed all too familiar. Looking around his rusted surroundings, he noticed the posters plastered across the walls; some of them overlapping each other. They all seemed to support candidates for an "Overseer". Goris knew what an Overseer was: all vaults had one appointed. He guessed that had made Gruthar an Overseer as well, since his promotion to pack alpha followed the same democratic process and gave him the same responsibilities.

Alex suddenly stopped his typing and sighed. "…It's having trouble connecting to the mainframe." he said, disappointed. "It doesn't seem to be working."

"Can you fix it?" Jacob asked.

"Gotta find it first." he replied, straightening up. As he walked towards a nearby bulkhead that separated them from the rest of the vault, he put his helmet back on to free up both of his hands. Jacob did the same, before holding his assault rifle at the ready. Who knows what could be on the other side?

Grabbing the handle, Alex gave it a quick twist – bringing the door's intricate mechanical components into life with a series of clunking sounds. After the crossbars were withdrawn, Alex cautiously pushed the heavy door inwards – his alertness obvious even from behind his helmet.

"Looks all clear." he suddenly said, stepping through. Kate and Goris followed him, with Jacob bringing up the rear.

"Where to now?" asked Kate, once they were all in the same room. There were three different doors to choose from, none providing a clear indication of where the mainframe would be.

"Let's try the clinic." replied Alex, pointing to the door opposite, which was identified with a brightly lit sign above it.

"We could get Goris fixed up there." Jacob thought aloud. He didn't know what having several bullets underneath your skin felt like, but it probably wasn't pleasant. Goris was being a man about it, though.

"Thanks." said Goris, before Alex pressed a button and sent the door rising up into the ceiling. "…Well, this is reassuring." Goris noted, once he had taken in the scene before him.

Skeletons occupied nearly every flat raised surface in the room, with some even left on the floor. As they stepped into the room, Jacob became increasingly unnerved. "What on earth happened here?" he said in a hushed whisper.

"Not a clue." replied Alex, looking around.

"Well, let's get this over with." said Jacob, setting his helmet down on a nearby table and beginning to take off his armour – his gauntlets weren't designed with such delicate surgery in mind.

"I can do it, if you want." said Kate, offering to spare him the time and effort of getting out of armour.

"Nah, it's alright." Jacob replied, while stripping down to a T-shirt and jeans.

"You don't even have to do this in the first place." said Goris, with a confused facial expression - he didn't like being fussed over.

"Goris, those are _bullet_ wounds." Jacob retorted as he picked up a pair of forceps and a scalpel. "What if they get infected?"

Goris shrugged. "I guess you have a point."

"Alright, let's start on your arm." Jacob said, clicking the forceps nervously. He raised the arm holding the scalpel, and began to slowly cut away the scabbing in order to get at the bullet underneath. The smell of blood filled Jacob's nostrils – some of it had rubbed away by now, but Goris' hide was still more crimson than grey.

"Vault 13 had a clinic." Goris said, wincing ever-so slightly at the pain. "There used to be a human there in case any of us got hurt."

"You had people living with you?" asked Kate, impressed.

"Yes, we did." replied Goris. "The healer was very knowledgeable, and I learned a lot from him; there were times when we would sit and chat together if he wasn't too busy."

"How did he get there in the first place?" Jacob asked, puzzled.

"We found him out in the desert one time – it's a long story."

"I'd love to hear it!" said Jacob, as he tried to pry the bullet out of his arm with the pair of forceps. "You always tell the best stories."

"Thanks, Jacob." he replied, managing a smile. "Maybe some other time, then."

"What's that?" asked Kate all of a sudden, pointing to Jacob's arm.

"What's what?" replied Jacob with surprise, abandoning his surgery and looking at where she might be pointing. "Oh… that's my old NCR army tattoo." he said, finally realising what she was talking about. The short sleeve of his shirt left it half-visible on his right arm.

"You used to be in the army?" Kate replied, stunned.

"Yep!" he said, raising his sleeve to show the insignia tattooed on his upper arm. "Third battalion, second company: No better friend, no worse enemy."

"Wow, I never realised." said Kate, while Goris craned his head round to get a look. "What's the story behind that?"

"Well… I lied about my age to get in; I wanted to be like my brother." said Jacob with a shrug, before picking up the forceps again. "Never got to see action, we were a garrison unit. When my brother was killed I wanted out as soon as my tour was over."

"That's quite something!" said Alex, stopping alongside Kate to have a look. "What places did you get to see?"

"Junktown, The Hub, places around there." he said, brow furrowed in concentration while still fiddling with the forceps; Goris patiently taking the pain. "Argh!" he finally exclaimed, throwing the bloody forceps aside. "I can't get a grip, there's too much muscle."

"Well, _sorry_…" said Goris, in mock offense.

"Are you sure you can do this?" asked Kate, now slightly sceptically.

"Sure!" replied Jacob with a confused frown. "Even though we didn't see action, I still had to patch up someone before."

"When was that?" said Alex.

"Some genius managed to shoot himself on the firing range." Jacob replied in a matter-of-fact tone as he looked around the room for a suitable tool. "Bingo!" Jacob suddenly exclaimed, holding a pair of pliers up in the air. "That's more like it!"

"Huh, I could have killed someone doing something equally as stupid." Alex said, as Jacob moved back into position and resumed his attempts to pull out the rogue bullet.

"How did you do that?" asked Jacob, intrigued. He never knew Brotherhood soldiers to be the stupid type.

"We were recycling microfusion cells and I accidentally made one explode in this guy's face. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet."

"I bet he wasn't happy."

"Nope, he even got the blame for it as well!" replied Alex with a mischievous smile. "Got latrine duty for a week. I was messing around to wind him up – he's probably the most boring person I have ever known."

"Can we _please_ get this over with?" interrupted Goris, his patience beginning to wane.

"Easy, I have a grip now." Jacob calmly replied. After a count of three, Jacob wrenched the bullet out of Goris' arm, who let out a short grunt of discomfort.

"Right, that's one." Jacob noted with an air of triumph, examining the bullet at eye level. "Now we have the rest to do."

* * *

><p>Once the last of the bullets had been removed from Goris' body, the group set about looking for the vault's main computer. The place seemed to go on forever, a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels that constantly made Jacob check they weren't going around in circles.<p>

As they went deeper into the vault, Goris became increasingly unnerved. A vault just like this one used to be his home, and couldn't shake the thought out of his head. It was like the egg that he was borne from – a shelter from the outside world, where the rest of his beloved pack was there for him. All until it was smashed beneath an armour-plated boot.

"Where do you think this computer is, Alex?" asked Jacob.

"Probably in the Overseer's office."

"That's nice." said Kate, noting a particular poster plastered on the wall as they walked past – the words "I hate Kate" emblazoned upon it in bold font.

"What's that?" said Alex, looking over his shoulder. "Oh right… what is _with_ these posters anyway?" he said, incredulously gesturing around.

"Competition must have been fierce." Jacob noted. Just by looking at the posters, it was as if each voting party was literally fighting for wall space. Living here must have been like living in a warzone.

Thankfully the path to the Overseer's office was well-defined, with illuminated signs pointing the way. Well, at least the ones that still worked.

"Well, looks like this is it!" called Alex, enthusiastically striding towards the doorframe. "Lets... Whoa! A tripwire!" he exclaimed, drastically shifting his centre of balance to avoid walking straight into it.

Setting his steel boot down on the other side, Alex clumsily walked over it. "Right." he said after a long pause, regaining his composure as the others avoided the trap. "As I was saying, let's see if we can get the mainframe working."

As Alex walked up to the bank of screens on the other side of the room, Jacob walked past the rigged shotgun resting on the U-shaped surface of the Overseer's desk and took a seat at the captain's chair. The trap probably wouldn't even scratch Alex, but if Kate had set it off she would be in deep trouble.

"Look at that; it's one of those modern integrated-circuit computers." Alex noted as he began to tap away at the keyboard.

"An inter-what?" said Jacob, slowly spinning on the chair with his arms behind his head.

"Never mind." replied Alex, rolling his eyes.

"Great, somebody disconnected the network." said Alex after a pause, significantly puzzled. "Who would want to do that?"

"Hell if I know." replied Jacob.

"Maybe they wanted to hide what happened here." Goris said, finally breaking his silence.

"That might be a good point." said Alex, resuming his typing. "Alright… now I need to get past the encryption."

"Is it difficult?" asked Kate.

Alex gave an agitated sigh. "Oh yeah. This thing's locked up tighter than anything I have ever seen before."

Jacob waited, casually flicking a pencil across the room. "I wonder what it's like to be an Overseer." he thought aloud with his legs resting on the Overseer's desk.

"I would think it would be very difficult." said Kate. "Imagine the responsibility involved – all those people, relying on you."

All the while, Alex was furiously tapping away, sweat gathering on his brow. "I got it!" he suddenly exclaimed in a yell of triumph, punching his fist up in the air.

"Great job!" applauded Kate.

"Right, let's bust this thing wide open." he said with a grin, rubbing his hands before returning to the keyboard.

An air of tension descended upon the group, as they watched Alex work. Why was the vault in this state? What had happened? In a few moments they would find out.

"Whoa…" Alex said, after a long period of reading. "I think you all should look at this."

Jacob swung his legs off the desk and got to his feet. "What's the matter?"

"The Overseers got… sacrificed?" Alex said, completely dumbfounded. "Am I reading this right?"

"Wait, slow down." asked Kate, looking over his shoulder. "Why would they do that?"

"It says here that if one of their inhabitants weren't sacrificed each year, the vault computer would kill off the whole population."

"Maybe that's what happened?" asked Jacob, also perplexed. "But why on earth would they need to do that in the first place?"

"The original Overseer was the only one who knew about this, and when the others found out about it they nominated the Overseer for sacrifice." Alex continued, shrugging. "I guess it became a tradition after that."

Jacob regarded the screen with raised eyebrows. That explained the ferocity of the propaganda that was present wherever you looked.

"But there's nothing about killing the vault population…" Alex said with a frown, poring over the data displayed on the dark green monitors.

"Aha! Here we go." he suddenly said, pointing. "The inhabitants were led to believe that they would be killed, when actually the vault will unlock if they refused to sacrifice a member of their community."

"So they started killing each other over whom to sacrifice next." replied Jacob, bluntly.

"Yep. It looks like they only realised when it was too late."

"Lovely." said Kate, obviously appalled.

"I'm not surprised." said Goris all of a sudden, speaking for the first time.

Jacob turned to face him, confused. "Why's that?"

"The vaults were used by the Enclave. They were not designed to save your species at all; they served only as 'social experiments' to test humanity." he said, sadness in his voice. He was clearly upset at the horrible truth.

Jacob stood for a moment with his arms crossed, agitatedly tapping a finger against his arm. "You know what? Let's just get the hell out of here."

"Right behind you." Goris said, with an unmistakeable air of relief in his voice.

* * *

><p>The group left the vault to find it was past dark – being underground, it was easy to lose your sense of time. They left without even closing the vault door, in a hurry to put it all behind them.<p>

Stepping out into the darkness, Jacob turned on his night vision. There was no way he was sleeping in there. Besides, Jacob actually found it quite exciting, seeing the landscape lit up in that eerie green – he felt completely safe, despite the sounds of coyotes all around him.

Jacob kept walking until he heard Kate stumble behind him. "You alright, Kate?" he asked, holding out a hand to help her – blinking in discomfort from looking directly at the pip-boy light. Night hiking was incredibly difficult in such rocky terrain and being unable to see a few paces ahead of you.

"I'm fine." she replied, taking it and regaining her balance.

The group continued to trek onwards, looking for a place to camp for the night. The only catch was there was absolutely _nowhere_ to do so. Jacob knew that they were being stalked by coyotes, but he was thankful it wasn't anything worse.

"Hey, it looks like we are back on the '95!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, after an indeterminate amount of time.

"Thank god!" Jacob replied, deeply relieved. Looks like they were finally back on track. "Look at that, smooth asphalt at last."

"Doesn't solve our problem though." noted Kate.

"One step at a time." replied Jacob. "…Are those damn coyotes following us?" he suddenly grumbled, hearing their scuffling and howling at the edges of the road.

"Just ignore them." said Goris. "They won't come near." Jacob had to agree.

After a few minutes, the group had arrived at an intersection; the snaking line of concrete from the other direction passing over highway 95 in a long, arching overpass.

"Let's take a look!" said Jacob, leading the way as he trudged up the steep embankment. Once he made it to the top, he was not disappointed.

"Wow." Kate said in quiet amazement.

Off into the distance was the unmistakeable skyline of New Vegas, the countless lightbulbs and neon signs within its limits lighting up the sky like a beacon. Several skyscrapers reached up into the sky like jagged teeth, the most prominent of which designed to look like a roulette spinner and sporting huge spotlights at the base that illuminated up the entire length of the tower.

"New Vegas!" exclaimed Jacob, arms spread wide.

Kate was amazed. "I haven't seen anything like this before."

"The home of every single vice there is." Jacob said with a smile. "Not to lower the tone, or anything."

"Alright, that looks like a good enough place to sleep." said Alex, breaking their trance and pointing to an abandoned trailer at the side of the road.

Jacob sighed. "This reminds me of the time we stayed in Nipton."

"When was that?" asked a puzzled Kate. "Nipton's a dump."

"The day before we met you." Jacob replied. "We had to stay in one of these outside of town after we got into a barfight."

Alex turned around, sceptical. "You and Goris got into a fight? Was there anybody left at the end of it?"

"More like Goris getting into a fight - he was gentle with them." Jacob said with a smile, noting Goris rolling his eyes.

"I'm not a mindless killer, Jacob."

"You did _throw_ somebody across the room though!" Jacob laughed as they stepped into the trailer.

"Really?" asked Kate, astonished.

"I was _stabbed_ – that was different." Although Goris was trying to be serious, Jacob saw the smile creep across his face.

Jacob took off his helmet and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure…" he said, as he began to take off his armour. He would probably need the extra insulation, but it would be uncomfortable to the point where it wouldn't be worth it.

"Sweet dreams." Goris sarcastically said, curling up on the metal surface with his robe wrapped around him.

"Thanks." replied Jacob. "I'll need it."

As they tried to get settled down to sleep, Jacob couldn't drop off no matter how hard he tried. His thoughts about the vault earlier that day kept him on edge, making every little sound enough to bring him back from the fuzzy edge of sleep. He was tempted to just give up, but after an indeterminate amount of time was eventually pulled beneath the watery veil of unconsciousness, and into a troubled sleep.


	17. Learning to Kill

SEVENTEEN – Learning to Kill

Jacob's ragtag band sat outside a dilapidated shack far to the south of the city of Henderson, laid back around a campfire as the sun began to set. Jacob was relishing the positive mood that had fallen upon them as of late, and agreed that it was a welcome change from the events of the past few weeks.

"Say, Jacob." said Alex, laid back opposite Jacob with his armour cast to one side. "Are you still serious about this mercenary thing?"

"I guess so." replied Jacob with a smile. "It looks like there's no stopping us now."

"I've been reduced to serving man, it seems!" said Goris playfully, emerging from the shack with a pair of beer bottles clutched in his claws.

"We are certainly a force to be reckoned with, at least." added Jacob, taking a bottle from Goris with a thankful smile. "Should make finding a contract easy."

"I'd just like to say I think it's a great idea. Eh, Goris?" Alex said, playfully beating him on the arm as he sat down.

Goris gave his characteristic grin. "Oh yeah. Not sure how I'll fit in, but I'm not worried."

"Yeah, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." agreed Kate.

Jacob took a sip of his beer, looking out across at the blur that was the city of Henderson. He wasn't that comfortable in a dense, hostile urban environment. But then again, who was?

"I wonder what it's like to be in Vegas." he said, half to himself after taking another sip.

"Who knows?" replied Alex. "I'm tempted by the alcohol and gambling, I must say."

"As long as it's not like New Reno." interjected Goris.

Jacob gave him a quick stare, startled. "You know it?"

"I've been there a few times and I wouldn't recommend it. This _was_ decades ago, though."

"Nah, not much has changed." replied Jacob with a laugh, before downing the last of his beer.

Goris smiled, reminiscing. "Some thugs stole our car. Biggest mistake they ever made."

"No way!" exclaimed Kate with a laugh.

"_Ouch_!" added Alex, shaking his head in amusement. "Talk about a bad day…"

"Hey Goris, what was that story about the vault medic you mentioned yesterday?" asked Jacob, suddenly remembering.

"Oh, him?" Goris replied, smiling. "I can tell you that, If you want."

"Go right ahead!" Jacob replied with a grin.

* * *

><p>Goris walked along the sterile corridors, the memories of his pack's rebellion still fresh in his mind. It couldn't have been more than a week since they had escaped from their Enclave captors, and Goris was just beginning to find his way around this vault that they had claimed as their home.<p>

Goris remembered the lasers, the bullets and the burning balls of plasma that flew overhead as he ran for his life – his father with him every step of the way. Some of the more physically accomplished of his brethren stayed behind to fight and give the rest a chance… but few came back alive. Goris recalled them arguing with his father, just before he made the decision to run. Gruthar was the strongest out of all of them, but he was deemed too important to risk his life to buy the rest time - it must have been incredibly frustrating. Such was the cost of leadership.

He inhaled deeply, enjoying every bit of the clean vault air - he still hadn't gotten over the euphoria of finally being free. Those who gave their lives for this freedom will not be forgotten.

He found the change of scenery intimidating at first; he kept thinking he would get lost. Still, he was so spoilt for choice he didn't know what to _do_! Until a week ago he only knew the limits of the world to be the walls of his cage.

Turning into the Vault's canteen, he was greeted by the sight of his father engaged in conversation with a pair of other Deathclaws, who had their backs to him. "Hello, Goris!" said Gruthar, noticing him and beckoning him over with his hand.

"Good evening." said one of the Deathclaws who Goris had identified as Valdis. Both of them were little more than strangers; neither of them had shared the same cage with him.

The other simply nodded, looking at him down his battle-scarred snout. Goris didn't need to think hard to identify him as Xarn – he was brutally mistreated at the hands of the Enclave, and was also part of the "warrior class" who fought against them when the time came to rebel. Such abuse had left a permanent mark on his being, with countless scars, a broken horn and an ice-cold disposition to boot.

"How are you today?" Gruthar asked, his face manipulated to form a smile. Even though one of them was his own father, he still felt intimidated at the three adults towering over him.

"I'm fine." Goris replied, squirming with discomfort. Humans made that facial expression! Why would he adopt the body language of a species that had caused them nothing but pain?

"Gruthar, it is in our best interests to hunt for food, surely it is obvious?" said Xarn, interrupting their conversation.

"The vault can provide us with food." Gruthar countered. "We don't need to hunt anything."

"With all due respect," replied Xarn. "I don't want to rely on human-built machines for survival. They cannot be trusted."

Gruthar sighed. "I respect your choice, but you are still my responsibility. What if something happens out there?"

"I can take care of myself." replied Xarn, coolly.

"Of course you can." said Valdis, gesturing at his scarred form. "Look what you let them do to you!"

"Whose side are you on?" retorted Xarn, slowly turning to face him.

"Enough! Bickering is for humans." Gruthar said in a raised tone, dismissing the conversation with an agitated wave of his hand. The sudden move effectively silenced the both of them - neither wanted to get in his bad books.

Gruthar responded by putting a clawed hand on Xarn's shoulder. "I'm letting you go out there, but please be careful."

"The same goes for you, Valdis." Gruthar added, turning his head to face him, who gave a quick nod.

"Understood, Gruthar." Xarn said, turning to leave the room.

"Can I come?" Goris suddenly blurted out, before shrinking back, realising the stupidity of what he had just said. He probably couldn't have picked a worse time even if he tried.

Xarn stopped abruptly, and slowly made a half-turn to look at Goris – his stony eyes boring into Goris' from beneath damaged horns. "Please tell me you are joking."

"Easy, Xarn." said Gruthar, calmly holding out a cautioning hand.

"I want to…" Goris spluttered.

"If he wants to join us, what's stopping him? He's not _that_ young." defended Valdis, coming to his aid.

"He hasn't even killed yet, Valdis! He would just be a liability."

"Do you know how much you mean to me, Goris?" said Gruthar. "I can't risk losing you. Xarn is right."

"I want to _learn_!" cried Goris, finishing his sentence. "How am I supposed to do that if you won't let me leave?" He hated the way he was being patronised – he was in his adolescence, he didn't need people to make his choices for him. "If a mind is stretched by a new experience, it can never return to its old dimensions."

"There is a fine line between audaciousness and recklessness." said Gruthar, his voice perfectly steady. "If one debases rationality, what would the world be like? All you have to do is look at the human race for a reminder."

"Anything that gives us new knowledge also gives us the opportunity to be more rational!" Goris countered, raising his hands up in incredulity. "I'd rather regret the things that I _have_ done, than regret the things I haven't. And anyway, how would you know what the world is like if you are so reluctant to go outside and find out?"

Gruthar looked at him with a pained expression on his face, torn by indecision. In a way, Goris felt guilty for kicking up such a fuss – Gruthar had been through a lot lately, and he was certainly not making his life any easier. However, he felt he had to make a stand for his independence somewhere.

"Fine. You can leave." said Gruthar, finally giving way and turning to leave the room at a brisk walk.

"But Xarn," he added, stopping in the doorway and pointing with one of his talons. "_Please_ look after him." he finished with a pleading stare, before closing the door behind him.

Goris thought he would feel victorious at managing to sway his father, but instead he felt selfish - Gruthar was only doing what he thought was best for him.

"Great, babysitting." Xarn grumbled, shaking his head. Goris would have made a retort, but he was too intimidated to open his mouth.

"Leave it out, Xarn." responded Valdis, restoring Goris' confidence. At least he wasn't on his own.

Xarn only snorted, turning his bulk in Goris' direction. "Well, my silver-tongued friend," he said with crossed arms; thick pearly scars criss-crossing their lengths. "It looks like your wish has been granted."

Goris decided not to say anything as he followed the two adults out of the room. Did Xarn really think he was that eloquent, or was he just being sarcastic?

* * *

><p>Xarn, Valdis and Goris trudged out of the cave leading to vault 13, walking directly towards the sun that was just beginning to dip under the horizon. The idea of hunting at night seemed like a very daunting prospect to Goris – he had thrown himself right into the thick of it all. But he was a Deathclaw, why was he afraid of hunting?<p>

"What do you think of the vault, Goris?" asked Valdis, attempting to stir up conversation. Xarn didn't even bother, choosing to walk ahead.

"It's amazing, but why are we choosing to live in a place humans built?"

"Humans are not all bad." replied Valdis. "I know it is easy to become sceptical after the current state of events, but the human race is far more morally diverse than our own."

Goris squirmed slightly – he was not convinced.

"Just stay the hell away from them." Xarn grunted, overhearing their conversation. "Nothing good will ever come out of the human race."

Valdis paused, before changing the subject. "How did you learn to talk like that back there?" he asked, inquisitively. "Not that I endorse challenging Gruthar's authority or anything, but it's not easy to dissuade him."

"It just came to me. I do a lot of reading, though." Goris replied, shrugging. "But if it is so hard to change his mind, why did he let you outside as well as me?"

"It's because he knew we were right." rumbled Xarn. "We can't solely depend on that vault forever."

"And anyway," he continued. "The food is dreadful."

"No…" replied Valdis, jokingly. "It's because you can't kill it first."

Xarn shrugged. "Maybe."

The group continued to roam, seeming to run into nothing of any particular interest. Goris would have normally felt bored at such a long period of time, but he was outside! Anything could be round the corner.

"Hey, I think Xarn has spotted something." Valdis suddenly said, interrupting their conversation.

Xarn looked over his shoulder and beckoned them over with a clawed hand. "Here's your chance to learn something new." he said to Goris in a hushed whisper.

Goris was completely bewildered. "What is it?" he asked, once he had arrived at his side.

"Molerat, fifty metres ahead."

"I don't see anything." replied Goris, confused.

"Look between those two clusters of boulders." he said, holding his arm out to point in the Mole rat's direction. Using Xarn's arm to line up his sight, Goris finally spotted it.

"What's the wind direction?" Xarn asked, somehow sensing that Goris had spotted their target before he had even spoke.

"Err, I don't know!" Goris whispered, now seriously overwhelmed.

"North-west." Xarn replied, answering for him. "Over there is the human settlement of Shady Sands, which is to the east." he said, pointing to a small blur of light in the distance. "Always stay downwind from your prey. That leaves us with the land behind and to the right of our target." he divulged, backing up each direction with clear and precise arm movements.

After Goris gave an uncertain nod, Xarn continued. "What terrain features do you see that could be used to your advantage?"

Goris strained his eyes, frantically searching for an answer. "There's… a cliff?" he replied, noticing that the mole rat was sitting at the foot of a rocky ledge, the top easily accessible from behind.

"Good observation!" praised Xarn, a smile spreading across his scarred face. "What better way to get the drop on your target, than to take the term literally?"

"I'm not really doing this, am I?" Goris said, daunted by this huge bombardment of information. It was just this little mole rat, but Xarn made it sound like one of those human mechanical manuals Goris had found in a toolbox back in the vault.

"Of course!" replied Xarn. "This is _your_ kill." he added, pointing his index finger at Goris' chest for emphasis.

"Isn't that rather irresponsible?" said Valdis, speaking from behind his shoulder. "I think you should slow down. He's new to this."

"Sometimes, you have to run before you can walk." Xarn replied, before turning back to Goris. "What can you expect to achieve if you just pussyfoot around?"

He had a point, but Goris was still hesitant. Gruthar had taught him that killing was bad, but wasn't this the same thing? Most of him wanted to charge at it and sink his teeth into its neck, but something was stopping him; it was this small voice in the back of his head, saying "this isn't right".

"Don't get a conscience, either." said Xarn suddenly, as if reading his mind. "Killing for food is different than killing for anything else – it's a fact of life. If you want to be vegan, the vault's cuisine is more up your street. But you aren't human, are you?"

Goris shook his head, the feeling draining from his body. Was that what humans felt sometimes?

"You're a Deathclaw."

He then nodded, confidently getting to his feet. "I can do this."

"Excellent!" said Xarn. "One more thing: Always be on the lookout for any potential threats while you are closing in for the kill – don't let the heat of the moment give you tunnel vision. If you notice any without them seeing you, remember to stay downwind from them, if you can."

"Right." replied Goris, a little too quietly.

"If anything happens, we will be there for you before you know it." reassured Valdis, with Xarn nodding in agreement.

"Good luck!" whispered Xarn as Goris took a deep breath and stealthily sneaked down the slope, making sure to stay to the right just as he was told. He carried out all of Xarn's advice to the letter - he may be a harsh teacher, but Goris respected his knowledge.

Goris scrambled clumsily up the back of the ledge, mentally cursing the poor grip of his claws against the steep ledge. It didn't make much noise however, and that was what mattered. Goris hesitated slightly as he got to his feet, his heart pounding in his chest. What would happen if he missed?

"I won't." Goris thought to himself as he threw caution to the wind and sprinted to the end of the ledge. He just caught sight of the molerat on the ground below before throwing himself into the air in a giant leap of faith, his prey still oblivious to its impending doom.

He hit the prey hard, forgetting to roll with the impact - a result of his inexperience. Still, it certainly wasn't hard enough to hurt him, but he wasn't so sure about the molerat that he had just crashed into.

Goris made sure by lancing his claws across its throat, severing the windpipe effortlessly. He relished the sensation of the warm blood gushing over his hands against the cold of the night – it was like nothing he had ever felt before!

Goris victoriously stood up over the corpse of the molerat, blood dripping from his hands. The sense of achievement he felt was previously unimaginable – how could Gruthar advise against this?

"Well done!" called Xarn, striding out of the gloom to greet him, with Valdis following behind. "Looks like you have earned your supper!"

"Thanks." replied Goris, meekly, before hesitantly crouching down to eat.

* * *

><p>After Goris' meal, they set off again to look for more food to hunt. As Goris tagged alongside the pair of adults, he felt more than safe – especially with someone as experienced as Xarn in his company.<p>

"If we don't find any prey soon, we are going to have to turn back." Xarn said, after a lapse of conversation. It was now deep into the night, and despite the buzz he was still feeling from his first kill, Goris was beginning to feel fatigue setting in.

"Trouble." said Xarn suddenly, instantly alert.

Yet again, Goris was caught out. "What is it?"

"Gunshots." answered Valdis. "We should be very careful from now on."

A few moments passed, and then Goris heard it. It was far off to be sure, but it still sent chills up his spine.

"Indeed, we should head back." said Xarn with a frustrated huff.

"But why?" asked Goris. "They are probably miles away."

Xarn simply looked at him, as if it was obvious. "They don't have to be close to you in order to kill you."

"Alright…" said Goris, reluctantly. Yes, humans were scary, but he didn't want to abandon the whole excursion just because they heard some gunshots.

As Goris followed Xarn and Valdis back to vault 13, Goris continued to think. Humans were… rather unintimidating, to say the least; but how could they manage to strike fear so surely into his heart?

Maybe it was their weapons; Long, metal "guns" that allowed them to inflict death on anything from afar. Or maybe it was the metal skins the Enclave wore, the ones that hid their faces and made them all look alike. Such technology was far beyond Goris' comprehension; maybe that was what scared him so much? If only he could somehow understand how these things worked…

"Pay attention, Goris!" called Xarn, rousing him from his thoughts.

Goris did as he was told, forcing himself to concentrate. This bore unexpected fruit however, as he soon noticed a lone Brahmin grazing in a clearing; it's two heads chewing at some shrivelled up grass poking through the rock-strewn ground.

"There's a Brahmin over there." he whispered, pointing.

Xarn followed his gaze, before returning to looking straight ahead. "Not interested, it's too dangerous."

"What do you mean?" retorted Goris, abruptly slowing to a halt. This was not the Xarn from earlier; he was never one to back down from an opportunity like this.

Xarn stopped as well, and made a half turn to face him. "Don't let the heat of the moment give you tunnel vision." he echoed.

"It's fine!" Goris hissed, gesturing in the Brahmin's direction. "Kill it, have dinner, go home. The humans will be none the wiser."

"Please don't be so reckless." cautioned Valdis, concern etched on his face. "What will your father think? Don't you remember your discussion with him from earlier?"

"You know what?" hissed Goris, angered by their lack of support. "I'll do it myself."

"Goris!" Xarn growled; shifting his lumbering bulk to follow him as Goris ran off.

Running up to the Brahmin, he didn't care when it turned and started running – he could run faster. He didn't know why it even bothered; he was a Deathclaw, the very top of the wasteland food chain. It would all be futile.

Goris was just about to lunge, when he caught a brief flicker out of the corner of his eye. As if to challenge his claim, a bullet suddenly impacted the ground at his feet, sending a plume of dust and rock flying into the air. The hunter had become the hunted.

He abandoned his attack, and maneuvered to the right – only to stumble. Trying to hold his balance for as long as possible, he eventually fell to the ground with a deafening crash.

Crawling on all fours, he scrambled to a nearby boulder – only to see a bullet bury itself into it with an enormous "bang" and leave a large hole on its surface. Giving in to the fear that coursed through his body, he simply put his head to the ground and covered it with his hands. Forcing himself to look in the direction of the gunshots, he saw a group of three humans approaching him with their guns raised; ready to finish the job.

Goris was resigned to his fate, until he heard an almighty roar from behind him. He looked round to find Xarn and Valdis charging towards his attackers, who swung in their direction in surprise and opened fire. Goris was horrified to see Xarn get hit in the shoulder, the force of the impact sending his right arm jolting backwards.

His left arm was unaffected however, for he brought it up and drove it downwards into the human's neck. As Valdis finished off the second human, Xarn ran the short distance to the third. Only problem was, the distance was not short enough.

Xarn was caught in a hail of shotgun blasts; hitting him in the torso a shocking number of times in the space of a few seconds. The onslaught only stopped when Xarn sent the human down with the last of his strength, sending him pirouetting backwards in a spray of blood.

Goris looked on in horror as he saw Xarn tremble in exertion, swaying like a wounded bull before dropping to one knee. Before Goris knew it, he was on his feet and running to his aid.

"Xarn!" Goris yelled as he ran. By the time he had arrived, Valdis was already supporting him from falling over.

"Xarn, I'm so sorry!" Goris cried, noting the blood trickling profusely from several holes punched into his hide and a chest completely glistening with the stuff. He had also sustained several hits to his right leg, effectively damaging the muscles that kept it working. Xarn coughed a few times, trying to say something.

He then leant over precariously, letting a small amount of blood dribble across his jaw. "Gruthar would never forgive me." he wheezed, breathing with great difficulty. Goris prayed Xarn didn't have a punctured lung, but what did he know? The buckshot didn't seem to have penetrated his skin too deep, at least.

"I didn't mean…" Goris stammered, too shocked to think straight.

"We don't have time, Goris!" exclaimed Valdis, cutting him off while heaving Xarn to his feet. "We need to get him back home."

Goris joined in, wrapping an arm across Xarn's torso. He was far too tall for Goris to support properly - he didn't want to know what would happen if Xarn fell on him.

The group made their way towards vault 13, one step at a time. Goris peered into the darkness around them, fighting back the tiredness that burned his eyes and muscles. He wasn't going to screw up this time – he had realised how important being alert is, now that his mentor's life was at stake. None of them said a word – those would come later. All that mattered was getting home as quickly as possible.

All the while they walked, Goris' mind was in turmoil; He was in _deep_ trouble. He had gone against the advice of both his father and Xarn, and now the person who was responsible for him was badly wounded as a result of his stupidity.

"It will be best not… to tell Gruthar about this." rasped Xarn, forcing out each word.

Goris looked around to him in amazement. "Lying?" This was something he had just not been brought up to do. Come to think of it, was Xarn taking the blame for him, or was he simply protecting his pride?

"It's not lying…"

Goris stopped him, sparing him of further effort. Getting him home was more important than disagreeing over something as trivial as this. However, Goris was still dreading Gruthar's reaction - he wasn't likely to be angry, just disappointed. Goris hated it when his father was disappointed.

"Stop!" whispered Valdis suddenly, coming to an abrupt standstill and earning a pained grunt from Xarn. "There is light up ahead."

Goris felt the familiar feeling of dread well up inside of him again. _More_ humans? Goris couldn't directly see the source of the light, but he could see the flickering shadows projected onto nearby boulders. One particular shadow looked remarkably much like a human being, which chilled Goris' blood.

As Goris watched, the shadow stood up and he soon found himself looking at its owner. The human wasn't that imposing at first sight, in fact he was rather short as far as humans go. However, Goris reminded himself that they didn't need to be intimidating.

Thankfully, the human didn't notice them, and walked away from the small fire that he had constructed. Goris peered through the gloom to see him picking some large orange flowers that had grown near a clump of boulders at the edge of the clearing.

"Those plants have healing properties." Valdis whispered. Goris didn't want to ask him where he learnt that, it didn't matter. He just wanted to get away as quickly as possible. What if he had a gun?

The human turned, heading back into the firelight. He then set about rummaging through a small pile of supplies that he had dropped near to the campfire, and Goris couldn't help but notice the peculiar symbol that he kept glimpsing.

"What's that red cross on the white background, Valdis?" he asked. There was a constant itch in his mind over what it meant – he had definitely seen it somewhere.

Valdis paused for a moment, deep in thought. "He must be a healer."

"A lot of good that does us." replied Goris. "I doubt he would be too happy to share his expertise with us."

Valdis sighed. "We need to at least try."

Goris was dumbfounded. Xarn had just been shot to ribbons by humans, and now he wanted to ask them for help? "Are you joking? He could kill us!"

"There is only one." Valdis replied. "And humans are not all bad."

Goris looked to the crouched form of Xarn, mutely staring straight ahead. Goris was absolutely astounded that he still had the strength to stay conscious. He almost expected him to bluntly express his revulsion for humans as if nothing had ever happened.

"Are you okay, Xarn?" Goris asked.

Xarn managed a flicker of a smile. "I've been through worse." he mumbled. Goris wouldn't have believed it coming from anyone else – he truly was incredibly tough.

Valdis was still hesitant, staring at the human minding his own business in the clearing ahead. "I'm going to give it a try." he finally said, almost nervously. "Let's get closer." he added, helping Xarn to his feet.

As they crept towards the unsuspecting human, Goris was terrified that they might be spotted prematurely. "What if he has a gun?" he thought to himself. Valdis had better be right about the "Humans are not all bad" concept, otherwise they would be walking into one hell of a mess.

"If this doesn't go to plan, death is not going to stop me when I remind you of how stupid this was." said Xarn under his breath.

"Healers have a code of conduct, he won't harm us." reassured Valdis. Goris wasn't convinced that it applied to Deathclaws, but he knew there was no going back now.

Valdis stopped, not daring to come any closer. They could now hear the human's footsteps as he went about his business, and the tension it caused made Goris want to turn tail and run.

After taking a deep, shaky breath, Valdis spoke. "I have been watching you," he said surprisingly clearly, making the human freeze on the spot. "And I know you are a healer. Are you dedicated enough to your art to heal someone foreign to you?" Valdis paused, uncertainly. "…Someone whom many would consider an enemy?"

Goris held his breath as the human slowly looked in the direction of Valdis' voice – there was definitely no going back now.

"I respect all life," he replied shakily, setting Goris' heart back into motion. "And I'm not prejudiced when it comes to treating the wounded, regardless of who or what they are."

So far, so good. Goris still wasn't convinced though; the human's claim was about to be put to the test. He looked up to Valdis, who gave him a quick, prompting nod before the pair of them heaved Xarn back onto his feet.

Bracing himself, Goris walked into the firelight with Xarn and Valdis - much to the human's horror. Goris didn't blame him for being surprised, though thankfully he didn't reach for a weapon. The thought of the fear that he had provoked made Goris extremely conscious of his appearance – he didn't mean to scare him at all.

"Good evening." wheezed Valdis, as he brought Xarn closer to the fire.

"I… I can't fix that!" the human stammered, noting the state of Xarn with wide eyes, who had several deep gunshot wounds and a chest completely caked in congealed blood. "…Not out here." he added, shrinking back in fear of their response.

Goris gave an inward groan at the revelation; All that worrying for this?

"We can take you to a place where you can." Valdis replied. "We really need your help." he added, noting the human's understandable reluctance.

Goris was taken aback by the news – he wanted to give away the location of their home? Goris supposed he didn't have a choice, since there wasn't much they could do without the human's help once they got back.

"Okay." said the human, nervously. Goris had to admit it was rather commendable of him; this human was willing to put his trust in a pack of Deathclaws, in order to save someone who wasn't even his species? Maybe Valdis was right about the code of conduct that healers apparently shared.

"Right, follow us." said Valdis, hitching Xarn back onto his shoulder. Goris moved to help him, but was turned away.

"I've got this." said Valdis. "Blindfold the human and watch over him."

Goris gulped; he had never interacted with a human being before. "Err… yeah, sure." spluttered the human as Goris turned, hurriedly ripping a scrap of fabric from his sleeve. His blatant submissiveness didn't help Goris' confidence much.

Silently taking the makeshift blindfold, Goris wrapped it over his eyes and clumsily tied a knot at the back. It wasn't the best, but Goris didn't want to tighten it too much in case he accidentally crushed his head or something.

"I don't want to hurt you." said Goris, aware of the fact that he was uncontrollably trembling. The human only nodded as Goris put a hand over his shoulder and guided him back to the vault, following Valdis' lead.

Some time passed, and the atmosphere remained uncomfortably tense. "What is your name?" asked Goris, making a stab at conversation.

"Joseph."

"I'm Goris." he replied, as pleasantly as possible. "How long have you been a healer for?"

"Over ten years." Joseph said, quietly. "But I'm just a herbalist, not a full doctor."

"I wouldn't know the difference!" Goris replied, good-naturedly.

"I treat people using plants. Doctors treat… more serious injuries."

That might be one of the reasons why he was so nervous. He probably doubted he had the capability of treating Xarn's wounds. "You'll be better at healing him than we will, either way." replied Goris, reassuringly.

A period of silence passed, and Goris knew he was holding back something. "Why can you talk? Deathclaws shouldn't talk!" he suddenly blurted out, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"You are probably right." replied Goris. He didn't really trust him enough to give away his history just like that, but he guessed it was a good icebreaker. "I suppose we have time."

Goris told the story of how his species came to be until the group finally arrived at the vault door, the huge "13" engraved on the surface just visible through the dim lighting surrounding it. As Valdis made his way to the control panel fixed to one side of the enormous steel surface, Goris took off Joseph's blindfold.

"Woah…" he said in an awestruck murmur. "This is Vault 13!"

Goris regarded him with a confused look. He never knew humans appreciated even their own creations like this. "You know it?"

"Everybody knows it!" he replied. "I personally never believed in it, myself…"

Fantastic, if this place was so legendary there were bound to be people looking for it. Maybe this was the reason for the blindfold?

"Please don't tell anyone about this place." pleaded Goris. If anyone found out about this, it would effectively sign their death warrants.

"Of course, the secret is safe with me." replied Joseph, completely sincere.

Goris hoped that he would stay true to his word as the huge door opened and rolled to one side. Plucking up the courage, he stepped into the vault's interior – he now had his father's reaction to deal with.

"You're finally back!" exclaimed an overjoyed and relieved Gruthar, hurrying to greet them with open arms as they entered through the vault's bulkhead; only to stop at noticing Joseph and the badly wounded Xarn. "What happened?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Xarn fell into trouble, and the human has offered to help." said Valdis, calmly addressing the suspicious Gruthar. Goris looked round to find Joseph staring at the colossal Deathclaw before him, clearly intimidated.

"It was all my fault." grunted Xarn, hanging off Valdis' shoulder. Goris was about to say otherwise, but decided this wasn't the right time.

"Alright, the clinic room is over there." he replied, exasperatedly gesturing towards a door on the other side of the room. "There's no time to waste."

As they flooded into the room, Goris passed a Deathclaw who regarded Joseph with hateful eyes.

"Bad human." he said, watching Joseph walk through the door. "Why here?"

"No Dar, good human." replied Goris, making himself as understandable as possible – Dar wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. "He help us."

Dar obviously wasn't convinced. "Help kill us." he said with a snort, before walking off.

Ignoring Dar's reply, Goris walked through the clinic door to find Xarn already led down and being treated by an anxious Joseph. Unfortunately, Dar wasn't smart enough to understand that humans were not all like the Enclave. But what if there was a hint of truth behind his words? Goris had to trust Joseph on this one; he seemed like the pleasant sort.

As he watched Joseph work, Goris was impressed by his knowledge of plants and primitive medicine. They seemed to do the job, at least. Joseph also carefully picked the worst of the bullets and the buckshot that had pierced Xarn's skin, numbing Xarn in the affected areas beforehand.

"Looks like I'm just about done here." Joseph finally said, clearing the rest of the blood from Xarn's body with a wet rag. "He won't be going very far until he recovers fully, though."

"It's more than we could have hoped for." said Goris, relieved that everything was okay.

"Thanks for saving me, little man!" praised Xarn with out-of-focus eyes and a mad grin, clearly under the influence of the medicine used on him. Goris had to laugh a little at the sudden change from the gruff and often-grouchy Xarn that he knew.

"We are in your debt." added Gruthar, prompting Joseph to look up at his hulking form. He obviously wasn't expecting such a warm reception.

"It was the least I could do." Joseph replied, wiping the blood off his hands.

"Alright Xarn, let's get you to bed." said Valdis with a bemused smile, helping him to his feet and across the room.

"Could you please wait here, Joseph? I would like a word with you in a minute." asked Gruthar, receiving a nod in response.

"Can we have a word outside?" asked Gruthar, turning to Goris and gesturing towards the door.

"Yes, of course." Goris replied, following Gruthar out of the room. He knew he had a lot of explaining to do.

Once outside, he could hear the elated Xarn as he was carried down the corridor. "If I look up, will I float away…?" he slurred, much to Valdis' amusement.

"No, you won't float away…" he snickered as they turned the corner into the elevator.

Gruthar rolled his eyes once they were out of earshot. "He'll be yelling at us to forget what he said, come the morning!"

"I can hear the teasing already." replied Goris with a nervous smile.

"So…" said Gruthar, adopting a serious tone and turning to face him. "Would you mind telling me what happened out there?"

Goris paused, unsure. "It was my fault." he finally said, guiltily staring at the ground. "I ignored Xarn and ran into a group of humans. He was injured while saving me."

Gruthar gave a slow nod, taking in the information. "Xarn is lucky to be alive. _You_ are lucky to be alive."

"Please don't tell Xarn I told you about this." said Goris, looking up. "He wanted to take the blame for me, but I don't deserve it."

Gruthar gave him a long stare. "As long as you know what you have done wrong. Treat the whole thing as a learning experience, seeing as that's what you set out here to do in the first place."

"I will not tell Xarn, either; His pride has taken quite a beating as of late." he added as Goris breathed an inward sigh of relief. He didn't want Xarn to think of him as a sneak.

"Now, I understand if you want to go rest after all you have been through today, but maybe you will be interested in watching me talk to Joseph?"

"Err, of course." replied Goris, not exactly sure of the purpose of his question. Why would he want him around?

As Goris followed Gruthar into the room, it finally hit him; his father wanted to teach him how to communicate with humans. Goris figured he did alright before, but he appreciated Gruthar's thoughtfulness – his kind will probably need to rely on diplomacy with the human race at some point or another.

"Hello, Joseph!" said Gruthar with a good-natured smile as he entered the room, making Joseph look up from cleaning up the rest of Xarn's blood.

"Sorry about the circumstances, I'm Gruthar." he said, holding out a hand. "I'm responsible for this vault and its inhabitants."

"Yeah, I gathered that. Nice to meet you!" said Joseph with a nervous laugh as he tentatively took Gruthar's hand and shook it. Seeing the human's tiny forearm in Gruthar's enormous hand was like nothing Goris had ever seen before – maybe humans weren't so bad after all?

"And this is my son, Goris." Gruthar added, gesturing towards him.

"Yeah, we have already met." Joseph said with a slight smile, backed up with a nod from Goris. "We talked some."

Gruthar acknowledged this with a slow nod. "Well, allow me to welcome you to our home." he said, after a moment's thought. "After what you have done for us, I'll be happy to let you stay here, should you wish to do so. You can come and go as you please – you will always be welcomed here."

Joseph nodded to show that he understood. "Thank you."

"However, there are some rules that I am afraid I will have to lay down." Gruthar continued. "I must ask you not to cause trouble, for we have been living peacefully here so far."

"And most importantly," he continued, his voice completely serious. "Nobody outside the vault must know that we exist. I feel if that were to occur it may only end in bloodshed."

"I understand." said Joseph, after another nod. "You can trust me to follow the rules."

"Fantastic!" replied Gruthar, relieved. Goris couldn't blame him; the appearance of human beings in his kind's daily life is bound to complicate things to some extent. "Well, allow me to show you to your quarters; now is no hour to be outside on your own."

After parting with Gruthar and Joseph, Goris finally made it to his bedroom. Curling up on the floor and closing his eyes, he reflected on the day's events.

Make no mistake; he had one hell of a story to tell Daan tomorrow.


	18. In Plain Sight

_Note: Apologies for the delay, I was doing other things. However, I have made various changes to the story since my last chapter so a re-read is advised if you have read this before. Feedback is greatly appreciated._

EIGHTEEN – In Plain Sight

"Well, it looks like we are here. About time, too." said Jacob, as they finally reached the ruined outskirts of the town.

"It doesn't look particularly welcoming." noted Goris, eying the wreckage strewn across the highway before them. The nearby buildings had fallen into disrepair after hundreds of years of exposure to the elements, spilling debris across the road. In some places a mangled car wreck could be seen poking through the rubble, having been stripped of anything of value. Jacob had to agree with him.

"Don't sweat it, guys." reassured Alex. "We didn't find any trouble."

Jacob nodded in understanding. "That's good to know, but we should still be careful."

"Yeah, sure. We don't have to hang around here anyway." replied Alex, while undoing the clasps on his helmet. "Does anyone have any water?" he asked, after lifting it from his sweat-soaked head.

"Here you go." said Kate, passing him a small bottle.

"Thanks." he replied, before taking a short swig. "How much do we have left?" he asked, as they resumed walking.

"Not a whole lot." said Jacob, after taking off his own helmet and scratching the back of his neck. "But at least it's enough to get us to Vegas! We can resupply there."

The group continued to walk through town, each chatting about their ideas of Vegas, much to Goris' interest. However, they had barely been walking for five minutes until they were brought to an abrupt halt.

"That looks like a landmine!" exclaimed Jacob, pointing at the object on the ground several yards in front of them. "There are more, too." he added, noticing several others carefully concealed in the rubble.

"It must be new, we didn't come across any mines at all." said Alex, confused.

"I don't like this." bluntly noted Goris, noticing the corpse of a female wastelander, propped up against a nearby car with one of her legs severed above the ankle.

"Is this the Legion again?" hissed Jacob under his breath as he cautiously ducked across the road to inspect the body. Once there, he found the death had been very recent; he noticed the fresh wound as he approached. Jacob then discovered that rigor mortis was beginning to set in as he searched the body; the stiffness of the victim's limbs disturbing Jacob to a rather extreme degree.

"There are no belongings on the body." Jacob noted with a grimace as he straightened up. "Hard to believe the buzzards haven't got her yet."

Goris sniffed at the air. "The blood is… four hours old? At the most."

"Can we move on?" asked Kate with a frown, baulking at the grim sight.

"Certainly." Replied Goris, turning away and taking a wary look at his surroundings. "It isn't safe to stay here."

"We had better take the long way around, then." concluded Jacob.

"Good idea." agreed Alex. "Looks like a raider trap."

"Nah, Goris would be able to smell the chems from a mile away!" Joked Kate as they stepped over the rubble into the maze of suburban streets.

"I'll keep you posted!" replied Goris with a smile, as he used his long talons to straighten out his lowered hood.

* * *

><p>"We are lost." concluded Alex, as they walked along one of Henderson's many identical suburban streets. Jacob had to agree with him; the old-world road layout seemed to have been designed purely confuse people. Of course, most of the road couldn't be seen anymore but the point still stood.<p>

"No, we are not." replied Goris. "Don't jump to conclusions." he added, in a good-natured tone.

"Look around us!" Alex replied, taking his helmet off and waving his arms around him. "I can't tell if we have already been here before. I mean, look at that pathetic sign!" he replied, pointing at a sandblasted road sign in amusement.

Alex frowned. "My instructor would kill me if he saw me like this." he concluded.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." replied Goris, in his usual blunt manner.

"…And the road is blocked." noted Jacob after a long pause, noticing the overturned bus in the centre of the narrow street, half buried in rubble. "We will need to find another way round"

"Hey Jacob, what about your pip-boy?" asked Kate, stopping to fish the battered computer out of Jacob's old rucksack.

Jacob shook his head. "The display isn't that good; it's only good for visiting other planets, I'm afraid."

"Okay, that may have been an over-exaggeration." grinned Jacob, after hearing Goris snort in amusement from behind him.

"Just a little." replied Kate.

"Listen, I know _exactly_ where we are." said Goris, walking past them towards the dead end. "Through that house should be the quickest way out of here." he concluded, pointing to a nearby two-story house that was still in reasonable condition. Half of the roof and top floor had slid sideways onto the ground below, but the ground floor seemed to be passable.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Alex, with a confused frown.

Goris chuckled. "Because I have been paying attention." he replied, with his trademark grin.

"I'll take your word for it. I'll go first." said Alex with a sigh, beginning to trudge towards the house; his heavy steel boots making a loud clanking noise on the pavement.

"Are you sure this place has a back yard, Goris?" asked Jacob as they followed Alex's lead.

"I would presume so; most of the houses here have the same layout."

"I guess all we would have to do otherwise is punch through the wall." Jacob replied with a laugh. "This place is falling apart."

"Much like everything else." Alex remarked, pushing the rotten wood door open and taking a peek inside. By pushing a button on the side of his helmet, the dust and gloom was quickly pierced by his helmet-mounted flashlight. "It looks pretty safe." he noted, opening the door fully.

"Mind if I quickly see if there's anything in here?" asked Jacob as the rest of the group stepped inside.

"I guess we have time." replied Alex, glancing backwards. "We'll be waiting outside."

"Mind if I come with you?" asked Kate, as Goris and Alex left the room.

Jacob frowned from behind his helmet. "Yeah, sure." he replied. Having an extra pair of hands wouldn't hurt.

Activating his own flashlight, he walked through a nearby doorway to what looked to be the house's living room. Inside, there was a single skeleton lying slumped against a nearby wall; the light from a nearby window spilling murky light across its surface. It was clear the death had occurred a long time ago.

"How ironic, dying in your own living room." remarked Jacob as he walked across the room and looked through some nearby drawers.

"A little insensitive, don't you think?" scolded Kate.

Jacob sighed. "Out here in the wasteland, if you dwell on death that's usually the next thing that will happen to you."

"I understand, but it will be nice to give a little respect."

Jacob straightened up from his scrounging, and slowly took off his helmet. "I have racked up one hell of a bodycount over the years, and it's not something I'm particularly proud of doing." he said, ruffling his messy hair. "It's kill-or-be-killed out here, so I do my best to ignore it."

"Speaking of bodycounts…" said Kate, changing the subject. "I want to talk to you about Goris."

Jacob frowned, puzzled. "What about him?"

"The other day, at the slaver camp, he… slaughtered more slavers than we did."

Jacob scoffed. "I would imagine he did, he is a Deathclaw after all." he said, not exactly sure of Kate's point.

"Exactly. But he was a furious Deathclaw." she continued. "I thought he was going to kill us, too!"

"What would be the point in that?" Jacob asked. "Yes, he did scare the life out of me as well, but I'm not exactly sure what you are saying."

"What I am saying…" continued Kate. "Is that his temper can be just as dangerous to us. I still think he is a nice guy, but watching him crush a slaver with a truck tyre can be pretty disturbing. It was more like a psychotic rampage."

"He likes you." Kate continued, still aware of the unsure expression on Jacob's face. "You could talk about it with him."

"I'll keep that in mind…" replied Jacob with a slow nod, unsure of how to react. "But I just think he is misunderstood. I don't even want to know how he was treated back there. I will talk to him when the opportunity comes, though."

"Thanks, Jacob."

"Anyway!" he suddenly said, changing the subject. "We had better be leaving now; they are probably waiting outside."

With Kate following, Jacob walked out into the back yard to find that the row of houses had been built against a large brick wall. The structure was cracked and worn in places, but it had still stood the test of time well, and defiantly stood between them and whatever was on the other side.

"What's new?" called Jacob, brushing aside some dead-looking wasteland weeds as he approached. He could see Goris with his hands pressed against the wall's surface, while Alex stood with crossed arms and a bemused expression on his face.

"We've hit a dead end." Alex replied, casually pointing towards Goris with his thumb.

"Just a temporary obstruction…" Goris rumbled, firmly checking for weak spots with his clawed hands. Once he was satisfied, he rammed the wall with his shoulder as hard as he could; pushing against it with his powerful legs. After a brief few seconds, the aged and cracked masonry eventually gave up against Goris' considerable weight and promptly collapsed, sending up an enormous plume of dust and leaving a large "V" shaped gap in the wall.

"I guess we had to punch down a wall after all!" Jacob remarked with a laugh as the noise of falling brickwork subsided. Goris only snorted, making an attempt to remove the sand-coloured dust off his grey hide before ultimately giving up and reaching for his cloak; settling it over his broad shoulders.

"That wasn't what I was expecting." remarked Kate with interest as the dust cleared. The newly-smashed hole in the wall led to a long-disused rail line, the sudden open terrain appearing far more threatening than the cramped suburban streets they had become used to. A nearby derailed train car was the only place for cover among the lengths of rails and sleepers, its paint job long since rendered unrecognisable through dirt and oxidised steel.

Taking care while stepping across the remains of the broken wall, Jacob made it a priority to reach the rail car before planning their next move. Just like the highway from earlier, they would simply be target practice for a sniper if they made no attempt to stay hidden. Drawing his assault carbine, Jacob covered the few yards to safety with the others closely following behind; gravel crunching loudly underfoot.

"Do you see anything?" hissed Alex, having taken up position next to Jacob near the end of the train wreck.

Jacob had realised that the rail line was walled along its entire length, so short of the dangerous prospect of following the rail line out of town, they would have to knock down another wall or find some other way to join up with the road network again. As luck would have it, there was a small rail station 100 metres or so away, but upon closer inspection Jacob realised that somebody had already gotten there first.

"There are people over there!" Jacob hissed back, simultaneously engaging his image enhancement system as he peeked out from the train wreck. Through his helmet's eyepieces he could clearly see a pair of male figures engaged in vigorous conversation on the ruined station platform, one sat against a nearby wall while another paced nearby. Jacob made a note of the makeshift armour they were wearing: plenty of spikes and metal plates, with helmets made out of what looked like animal skulls. So far, they hadn't noticed they were being watched.

"Raiders, by the looks of 'em." Jacob concluded with a frustrated sigh, ducking back into cover. "Any ideas on how to get past them?"

"Not much you can do besides shooting." replied Alex, cradling his Light Machine Gun in his arms.

It dawned on Jacob almost immediately that Alex was right. Sneaking past was out of the question, and he wasn't too keen on taking the diplomatic route. Flicking his rifle's fire selector to "burst", Jacob tightly clenched the grip and took a deep breath. Rising to his feet and breaking from cover, Jacob squinted down his iron sights and opened fire.

As Jacob had hoped for, the pair of raiders were taken completely unawares. Startled and disoriented at the sudden gunfire, they reached for their weapons. Seeing one of them drop what looked like a jet inhaler in the confusion, Jacob subconsciously rolled his eyes. Standard raiders.

It took a few valuable seconds for the raiders to even find their target, and even when Jacob heard the retaliatory "cracks" they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. They looked to be so high Jacob was surprised they hadn't fired their guns backwards.

As Jacob ducked behind cover to reload, Alex quickly replaced him; his Light Machine Gun chattering away and sending round after round of 5.56mm fury through the air. Jacob saw a bullet glance off the surface of the train wreck a few feet from his head; the impact sending a rust-coloured cloud into the air.

"Lucky shot." hissed Jacob through gritted teeth as he finished reloading. Signalling to Alex, Jacob quickly took his place; the ammunition for his gun was too scarce to be overused. Jacob had only been back in the fight for a few seconds when he pulled a lucky shot of his own: one of his bullets had caught the makeshift helmets of one of the raiders, ripping it off his head and sending it spinning to the floor. Watching the raider crumple from the force of the impact, Jacob thought he had landed a fatal shot until he saw the raider start attempting to return to his feet. It may have not been a killing blow, but the shot had definitely proved fatal for the raider's morale.

"Shit!" yelled the raider that was still standing, his will to fight broken. Barely controlling his balance, he drunkenly ran away from the firefight; eventually followed by his stunned friend, who he had not bothered to help.

Once the raiders were gone, Jacob cautiously trotted over to the station platform; his teeth chattering as the adrenaline wore off. Heaving himself onto the raised platform, Jacob stopped to catch his breath as the others caught up with him.

"I doubt that's the last we will hear of them." remarked Alex, pushing his weapon onto the platform before lifting himself up, the actuators in his arms giving a faint whine at the exertion.

Jacob gave a small laugh, smiling behind his helmet. "Don't jinx it, Alex."

"Always the optimist." observed Kate as she boosted herself upwards with a jump, rising to her feet with remarkable agility. Having become conditioned to how cumbersome power armour was, Jacob was suddenly surprised at how much of a difference it made, for better and for worse.

"We need to keep moving, regardless." Goris stated, simply treating the platform edge as a step, propelling himself to his feet with ease while his robe billowed behind him.

"Hey, look at this!" called Alex, standing next to the raider's discarded helmet. "Looks like he dropped something." he added with a smirk as he picked up the ruined headwear.

"Is that a Bighorner skull?" asked Kate, puzzling over the helmet's origin. Jacob's shot had blasted a large section of the skull apart, leaving only one half relatively intact amongst splintered bone.

"Just a little one." replied Alex. "Now with only one horn!" he added with a smile, pointing at Jacob's handiwork.

"Come on, daylight's wasting." said Jacob, interrupting their conversation. He stood casually leaning against the brickwork of the station building, with Goris alertly standing nearby.

"Er, yeah, sure." Alex replied, nonchalantly throwing the helmet off the platform edge, where it bounced off a rail with a hollow "crack", before resting on the gravel.

After leaving the station, the group soon found themselves inside an industrial park, with more open spaces lying between ruined warehouses and factories: tangles of concrete rebar poked through the rubble, reaching upwards like urban foliage. Most of the space was taken up by roads and parking lots, and Jacob was painstakingly making sure that he would be firing the first shots again.

"At least we can cover more ground this way." said Alex as he walked through a waist-high hedge bordering a parking lot, the brittle twigs scratching at his armour.

"Yeah, it's much better." replied Kate, relieved at the thought of reaching the relative safety beyond the town borders.

"I beg to differ." rumbled Goris from behind them, raising a hand from his robes to show his serrated claws. "I can't reach very far."

Jacob shot Goris a quizzical look. "I don't know why you are complaining, with claws like those."

Goris shrugged. "I suppose specialisation has its place."

"That's interesting…" said Alex in a curious mumble, his attention focused on a nearby building.

"What is it?" replied Jacob, following his gaze and finding nothing of interest.

"That building over there." he said, pointing with his free hand.

The building of interest was surprisingly undamaged, aside from the understandable wear and tear that two hundred years of dilapidation would bring. Its design was very modern, sporting the word "REPCONN" in large stylised letters above the entrance. Several antennae decorated the roof of the complex, indicating that this was an important

"It used to belong to REPCONN. They made rockets…" sighed Alex at Jacob's blank facial expression. "And weapons research too, from what I've heard."

"And I suppose you would like to take a look around?"

"Well, just a little one." Alex replied, frowning. "It will be worth it."

Jacob knew better than to get in the way of Alex's obsession with technology, given his heritage. "Fine, but make it quick." said Jacob with a frustrated sigh. He didn't like the idea of staying in this place any longer than he had to.

"Sure thing." replied Alex from over his shoulder, making his way to the building at a brisk walk. Alex wasn't surprised to find Goris keeping pace with him, his interest just as peaked as Alex's.

Jacob remained at a walking pace with Kate, following in their wake. "Do you really think this is a good idea?" asked Kate, wincing as she carefully made her way through a tangle of evil-looking plants that bordered the parking lot, the occasional thorn piercing her clothes. For Jacob however, the thorns just scratched at his armour as he confidently strode through them.

"You don't mess with the Brotherhood of Steel when it comes to technology." he bluntly replied. "They get really pissed off. You only need to look at the war to know what that can lead to."

"Just give 'em what they want and they don't complain" Jacob said with a chuckle as he hefted himself to sit on the rusted hulk of a parked car, before casually juggling his helmet between his hands.

"Aren't you going in with them? Isn't it dangerous here?" Kate asked, confused.

"Nah." Jacob said with a frown, shaking his head. "I would rather take my chances out here."

It was now Kate's turn to frown. "That doesn't make any sense. What is it in there to be afraid of?" she replied as she sat down next to him.

Jacob sighed, resting his helmet in his lap. "Robots."

"Robots? Are you serious?" she replied in disbelief, failing to conceal her amusement.

"Look, I just don't like them!" Jacob retorted. "They could be harmless one minute and then they want to kill you the next. I don't trust them. I don't like their creepy personas either."

* * *

><p>"Looks like Jacob and Kate aren't coming." Alex noted as he closed the half-rotten double doors behind them, shutting the pair inside the gloomy interior of the REPCONN headquarters. "Not really sure why." he added as he switched on his helmet's built-in flashlight to help visibility.<p>

"What was this you were saying about weapons research, Alex?" asked an intrigued Goris, as he casually flung his robes onto a nearby desk.

"The rockets these guys made were powered by plasma rocket propulsion." Alex began as he attempted to coax life into the receptionist's terminal, tucked into the corner of the room behind a desk. "Eventually the higher-ups thought it was a good idea to apply the technology to weapons, which led to REPCONN working with the US military to develop plasma weaponry. Pretty nasty stuff."

Goris tensed slightly at the mention of these words, reflexively crossing his arms to protect as much of his body as possible. "…I concur." he sighed after a pause.

"Huh?" replied Alex, turning his head away from the terminal, confused by Goris' unexpected response. "Oh…" he added, noticing the large blotchy scars that decorated his body. "Sorry." he mumbled.

"Courtesy of the Enclave." said Goris, shrugging it off. "I'm flattered to know that you haven't noticed them before, however."

"Changing the subject a little…" said Alex after a long pause, turning away from the terminal while awkwardly scratching the area between his power armour and neck. "There's something I want to ask you about Jacob."

"Of course, Alex." replied Goris with a hint of relief in his voice.

"Do you think he has any idea of what he's doing, becoming a mercenary and all? It's like he will do anything to avoid settling down and living a quiet life."

Goris quietly pondered the question, scrutinizing Alex carefully down the length of his snout. "I think I can relate to him." he concluded after a pause. "I've been a nomad for most of my life – a vagabond. I get uncomfortable if I stay in one place for too long…"

"But why do it?"

"Jacob may have his own reasons." Goris replied, beginning to cross his arms again. "Mine, well…" he trailed off, staring to one side.

"…Well?" asked Alex inquisitively, frowning slightly.

"Well!" Goris said with a sharp exhale, slowly looking Alex in the eye. "…I am a father. Or at least, I may still be…" he continued somewhat quietly, beginning to anxiously pace. "I don't know where my offspring is, or even if they are still alive… I suppose I'm hoping for the smallest chance to meet them again before my time is up."

Alex nodded in understanding as Goris uncertainly trailed off. "Actually, forget what I just said." interjected Goris with a wave of a hand, abruptly stopping his pacing to turn his back towards Alex; leaning with his arms against a nearby desk.

"I'm sure they are fine. Don't worry, man."

Goris slowly raised his head towards Alex with an amused grin. "Man?"

"Ah, you know what I mean!" dismissed Alex with a wave of his hand as he continued working on the terminal, muttering a quiet "bingo" when the screen finally flashed into life.

"I know I need to get over this." said Goris, suddenly pushing himself upright again, casually scratching his neck in thought. "I have tried to tell myself that I don't need my pack, but it's like some… primordial instinct makes it feel forced and unnatural."

"Or maybe it's just me." Goris concluded with a shrug, resting his arms on the reception desk that Alex was working on.

"Well… my parents were both scribes back west. They were captured as POWs just before I was posted in the Mojave." replied Alex, shrugging it off with a frown as he continued typing. "Never heard from them since."

"I am sorry to hear that."

"Nah, I got over it easily enough." Alex said as he finished his typing and powered the terminal down. "I saw the Brotherhood as my real family anyway. They helped fill the hole…"

"And I suppose you miss the Brotherhood?" replied Goris, his head carefully tracking Alex as he walked past.

Alex came to a stop with his back to Goris, awkwardly kicking a steel boot at the rotten carpet floor. "I would be lying if I said I didn't." he suddenly said, turning to face Goris. "I had a lot of friends there. Friends I will never see again…"

Goris put a hand on Alex's shoulder, his claws resting on the ruined Brotherhood insignia displayed there. "Then we have something in common, hmm?" Goris replied with a tilt of his head, before letting go and turning to fetch his cloak.

"Alright, better get going!" Alex said after a pause, suddenly perking up. "I know where the shipping area is."

* * *

><p>"I would have thought a building like this would have been more adequately protected…" Goris mused as the pair strode across the large empty warehouse built into the back of the building. Sunlight streamed through the skylights that ran the length of the ceiling, casting rays of light onto the occasional tarpaulin-covered bundle that stuck out like islands in a sea of empty space.<p>

"Yeah, it's a little odd." Alex replied, frowning. "They probably had robots guarding this place back before the bombs fell."

"Anyway, let's see what these things are hiding." he said with an eager smile, closing the distance to the largest tarpaulin in the centre of the room. Pulling off the mass of material and dragging it to the side with a thick plume of dust, Alex revealed a stack of plastic drums; their original red colour having since faded due to the passage of time. The word "Danger" was barely visible on their bleached surfaces.

"Hmm." was Alex's only response, his brow furrowed.

"What were you expecting?" Goris chuckled. "Anything of value was probably taken years ago."

"Yeah…"

Turning his attention to what lay on the opposite wall of the warehouse; Alex raised his eyebrows in interest, letting the useless tarpaulin cover fall to the ground with another puff of dust. A large bulkhead sat built into the wall, the rectangular mass of solid steel resolutely barring entry to whatever may be on the other side. The words "RobCo Industries" was displayed across its surface, the paint having flaked and faded but still very much visible.

"I don't think anyone's gotten through _that_, though." Alex remarked, pointing with an air of confidence.

"You're going to try and get through?"

"Sure, why not?" he replied with a grin, running his hand through his hair as he strode across the other half of the warehouse. Goris followed behind, visibly bemused at Alex's eagerness at the prospect of finding lost technology.

Walking up to the terminal built into the wall, Alex took a quick glance to the side as he powered on the machine: that door was nearly twice as tall as he was!

"They clearly have something they wanted to protect." Goris noted, patiently standing behind Alex as he tapped at the keyboard. "A door like this seems a little excessive otherwise."

"It's more than that." Alex muttered, staring at the mass of green lettering on the screen. "I will need to activate the security systems if I want to open it. This is some serious piece of security software."

Goris made no response, knowing he was far out of his depth to make a helpful reply. "Ah, screw it." Alex growled after a pause. "I have no other choice."

"Right, now to get the passcode!" he then said in a flustered tone, rolling his eyes as he continued typing.

Turning away from the door, Goris took a long look around; his reptilian eyes scanning the empty warehouse. If the security systems were now active, who knew what could be waiting for them? Goris flexed his fingers in preparation, suddenly becoming aware of their razor-sharp claws again; they had served him well so far.

"Damn!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, breaking Goris' concentration. "I can't do it." he admitted, leaning his fist against the wall. "I could set an alarm off at this rate, and the security robots are well awake by now."

Goris nodded in understanding. "Then we must not outstay our welcome, hmm?"

Alex reluctantly pulled himself away from the monitor, visibly disappointed. "Right behind you."

* * *

><p>Goris walked along the corridor, eyes and ears alert for any security robots that they may happen to run into. His acute senses could certainly hear them: a faint rumbling noise travelling through the labyrinth of walls that snaked through the complex like a puzzle. Unlike them, Goris could make himself as quiet as he liked, which was surprising given his size in relation to human beings. Of course, his frame carried problems of its own but there was nothing he could do about that.<p>

Turning the corner, he found himself facing down a long corridor with windows running along the left side. Casting a glimpse out through the grimy glass, he could see the skyline of New Vegas; now much closer than before.

Goris' attention was yanked back to the present as he heard one of the security robots approaching. "Uh, Goris…" Alex whispered, warning him.

"I know." Goris replied, creeping slowly forward. It was getting louder, but he still didn't know whether it was coming from in front or behind.

As if to answer, it suddenly appeared through a nearby door, directly in front of them.

Goris held his breath as it approached, as it had not opened fire. It was a strange machine, consisting of multiple arms and sensors, connected to a central sphere that was propelled above the ground by some kind of jet. Goris remembered something of the design from when he was younger, but couldn't recall any details. "It is my duty to inform you that you are in a restricted area." It stated in a very un-intimidating mechanical voice. "May you please display your REPCONN tour ticket?"

From underneath his hood, Goris barely suppressed a laugh. Looking down at the little robot, Goris could barely believe that this could be their security force. Still, he could clearly see the plasma emitter on one of its appendages, and took decisive action.

Slipping off his cloak in the blink of an eye, Goris lunged forward and grabbed the machine with both of his hands. Before it could even react it was already crashing through the glass window and hurtling towards the ground two stories below.

"Oh man, Goris!" Alex exclaimed in shock, looking through the smashed glass at what was left of the robot below. He then slowly took an uneasy look towards Goris, who was in the process of putting his cloak back on.

Settling the robe back over his shoulders, Goris gave a nonchalant shrug. "No ticket!"

"It thought we were on the tour. Probably had a vacuum tube loose." Alex assumed with a nervous laugh. "We had better get out of here." He concluded, taking a step forward.

No sooner had his boot touched the ground, an onslaught of klaxons burst into life. Almost simultaneously, a fake wall at the far end of the corridor slammed through the floor, revealing a far more intimidating opponent. Propelled along by a wheeled tripod, the machine stood taller than a man, and was equipped with a minigun mounted in each arm. What was worse, the door it was guarding just happened to lead to the exit.

"Get out of here!" Goris roared as he lurched into motion. Sprinting forward, Goris launched himself forward with each stride; leaving the ponderous form of Alex hopelessly attempting to follow. For Goris, it was a race against time as the machine raised its arms and began to spool up the pair of miniguns that could undoubtedly tear him to pieces.

Launching himself into the air with both legs, he cleared the final few paces with a well-practiced lunge; teeth bared and arms wide. Still airborne, he grabbed the robot with both of his arms the very moment the miniguns burst into life, flooding the corridor with gunfire. Not a moment too soon, Alex ducked into a side door; a few bullets sparking off his armour in the process.

Transferring all of his weight to throw the machine off target, Goris nearly toppled the thing over as he swung behind; away from the reach of its guns. With its miniguns still firing in arbitrary directions, Goris hitched a better grip before attempting to drive his claws into its weak back armour.

The noise of gunfire pummelling his eardrums, Goris repeatedly slammed his claws into the machine with all his strength; hammering in between the gaps in its armour with every strike. Once a gap grew large enough Goris rammed his hand inside, and tore the armour plate clear off; exposing the machines vital internals.

Thrusting his hand inside once more, he grabbed whatever he thought was most important and dragged it out in a shower of sparks. The robot then promptly went berserk, throwing its arms into the air; the mingun rounds digging into the ceiling and bringing a shower of plaster raining down as Goris continued to wrestle with the machine.

With the ceiling now structurally compromised, Goris tipped the machine into the corner of its cubicle with one final effort, simultaneously throwing himself clear as the ceiling collapsed. The robot was promptly buried under rubble; black smoke and the occasional spark emanating from what was still visible of the dead machine.

Clearing his nose and throat of dust with a series of guttural coughs, Goris pulled himself to his feet: they were not out of this yet.

* * *

><p>"It's been a while now, do you think we should see if they are okay?" asked Kate, sitting with Jacob on the hood of a parked car.<p>

"Nah, they will be fine." reassured Jacob, placing an arm around her. "They can take care of themselves."

"What about us?"

Jacob smiled. "You've got me, haven't you?"

Kate gave a short laugh, leaning back against Jacob's breastplate. "I'd count myself lucky for that, I can barely hold a gun straight. When we attacked that slaver compound… that was the scariest moment of my life. Even scarier than negotiating with the Khans."

"Hey, I would say even Goris gets nerves sometimes." Jacob murmured into Kate's ear. "It's totally natural; you did great."

Kate sighed, resting her head against Jacob's neck. "Thanks, Jake."

Jacob said nothing as he rested his own head against hers. She was undoubtedly beautiful, but there was something about her that nobody else had. Jacob had never seen someone with such pale skin as hers, or such deep black hair despite the harsh wasteland conditions. It was as if she…

The pair was then rudely interrupted when the front door of the building was suddenly kicked open by an armour-clad Alex, the noise of the impact echoing off nearby buildings and startling the pair of them. "Gotta run, guys!" he called, simultaneously cocking the light machine gun in his arms.

"Alex, what-"

Goris then emerged through the entrance, barging the doors aside with one hand with the severed leg of a sentry bot in the other. Even from this distance Jacob could see that his cloak was completely covered in dust, with the occasional patch of fresh blood.

Almost immediately Jacob jumped off the car hood, simultaneously ramming his helmet onto his head and grabbing his assault rifle. His heads-up-display burst into life as he sprinted across the parking lot, cocking his weapon as he ran. He took cover behind an abandoned motorcycle just before the front steps of the building, where Goris was duelling with a security robot that had followed them outside. The robot was armed with a large buzzsaw, which made an ominous whining sound as Goris tried to prevent it from reaching him.

Goris smashed his clenched fist into the robot, sending it spinning backwards and casting its buzzsaw arm away. The machine had barely stabilised itself when Goris followed up by clubbing it with the severed security bot leg, smashing part of the robot's casing off, taking one of its sensor stalks with it.

However, as Goris recovered from swinging the huge mass of steel, the robot managed to bring its buzzsaw arm around. Goris roared in pain and anger as the buzzsaw tore through his cloak and entered the slate-grey hide of his upper arm. Goris dropped the improvised cudgel, which clanged loudly against the concrete.

"I win." spat Goris as he brought his arm around and grabbed the machine's extended appendage, cleanly breaking it with a single twisting movement. He then brought his knee up into the machine with a powerful thrust, smashing into the machines propulsion system. Goris then dropped the still-spluttering buzzsaw and punched the robot towards the bottom of the steps with a final effort, denting the machines armour plating and sending it spinning out of control.

As the robot began its seven-foot descent down the flight of steps, Alex and Jacob took their opportunity. Opening fire with their weapons, they caught the robot with a hail of gunfire as it bounced down the steps like an overpriced toy ball. It smashed into the steps twice before slamming into solid ground below, riddled with bullet holes and with smoke pouring from its vital systems. It was very evident that it was dead.

"Now would be a very good time to leave!" hissed Goris as he awkwardly hurried down the steps with his clawed feet. "There are worse machines in there."

True to his word, a sentry bot soon emerged from the building, armed with a gatling laser. Thankfully, its wheels would mean suicide if it tried to follow them due to the steps. However, it could kill them easily enough from where it stood.

"Kate, go with Goris!" yelled Jacob through his external speakers, pointing away from the building to safety. "We will cover you!" he added as Alex took up position next to him behind the old motorcycle.

Moments later, both sides opened fire in a deadly light show. Jacob prayed he wouldn't get hit as the ruby beams of lasers seared into the rusted metal they were hiding behind. At the same time he prayed that he would get a lucky hit, as their combined gunfire didn't seem to be doing anything: it all just bounced off the robot's chestplate.

"I'm out!" exclaimed Alex as his weapon fell silent. Swinging it behind his back by its belt, he switched to his pistol in a pathetic attempt to keep it occupied.

"Shit!" cursed Jacob as a beam passed inches from him, only to strike the assault rifle that he was in the process of reloading. Scrambling to hide as much of himself as possible, he blinked away the line burned into his retina to see that all that remained of his gun's firing mechanism was a glowing crater of scorched metal. "Hey, are you alright?" called Alex, grabbing Jacobs shoulder with a steel gauntlet; thinking he was injured.

"Looks like we are screwed." he noted with a hint of a laugh, before looking back at the now-distant shapes of Kate and Goris. "Think we should run for it?"

Alex holstered his pathetic pistol, and nodded. "Go for it." he replied, his voice distorted by his helmet.

Jumping to his feet, Jacob threw the useless weapon in the robot's direction with a frustrated yell, before turning on his heel to sprint after Alex as he ran to safety. Laser beams struck at the concrete as they weaved around parked cars. After a frantic period of running, they turned the corner of a neighbouring building; having finally escaped.

"Okay, _that_… was why we can't stop and check every building we come across." said a flustered Jacob as they slowed to a walk, heading towards the figures of Goris and Kate.

"What do you mean?" replied Alex as he took off his helmet, frowning.

Jacob sighed as he did the same, exposing his sweat-soaked head to the open air. "What, apart from nearly getting killed? What's more, you came back empty-handed!"

"There was something in there, I swear! I just couldn't get to it…"

Jacob drew a line with his hand, cutting the conversation short. "I don't want to know, I just want to forget this ever happened."

Alex remained silent, although his face suggested he was visibly annoyed. Jacob felt he had to keep him in line somehow, although at the moment Jacob was more worried about Goris, who was in the process of being tended to by Kate.

"Hey Goris!" called Jacob as he approached. "Are you alright?"

Goris gave a nod of gratitude to Kate as she finished with the gash below his shoulder, before turning his attention to Jacob. "I am fine." he replied with a smile, seemingly oblivious of his injury. Thankfully, the buzzsaw had bounced off his hide, which meant the damage wasn't catastrophic. However large amounts of blood had still seeped out in thick rivulets, leaving a webbed pattern down his arm as it dried.

"Good to know." responded Jacob with a relieved sigh. If Goris was human, he would most likely be waving that arm goodbye.

"I used a stimpak to stop most of the blood loss, but it should heal up fine." added Kate.

Goris snorted as he picked up his robe. "Waste of a stimpak, if you ask me." he muttered as he settled it over his shoulders. "Ah… That's going to need a patch…" he noted in dismay as he examined his damaged cloak.

"I could fix that for you later?" offered Kate, receiving a thankful nod in return.

"You really don't care, do you?" asked a bemused Alex.

Goris shrugged with a guilty grin. "Flesh wounds heal themselves."

Jacob couldn't help but smile. That was Goris all over: hard as nails. "Anyway," he began in a serious tone. "We had better get going to New Vegas: no more distractions. At this rate, we will never make it."


	19. Procedure

NINETEEN - Procedure

Jacob idly listened as the aging, grey NCR official sitting opposite him spewed a seemingly unending stream of forms, questions and general bureaucratese in his general direction across a dark wooden desk. Occasionally looking across towards Kate, he could see that she wasn't faring much better in the stuffy heat of the small room. Of all the things the NCR had to replicate from the old world, it had to be its legislature.

"So, you say you are Jacob Lowe from Shady Sands, with several bandit kills to your name?" said the official, who had introduced himself as Mr Flint.

"That's right." confirmed Jacob. "We also helped shut down a slave compound last week"

Flint nodded somewhat shrewdly, before adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses. "Yes, we heard about that. There is a modest bounty that will need to be processed shortly."

Jacob inwardly breathed a sigh of relief – after the last screw-up, he needed a new gun.

"We will do that later." interjected Flint, brushing aside the subject with a quick wave of his hand. "You say there are two others with you…?"

"They are waiting out of town." replied Kate, to which Flint nodded.

The conversation continued for several minutes, until they finally seemed to be getting some progress. "We do have tasks that are currently open for external assistance, but unfortunately we are looking for applicants of a higher calibre than-"

"We have Power Armour!" interrupted Jacob, startled at the sudden change of tune. He had to say something, else this whole struggle would have been for nothing. However, he instantly feared he had some fast talking to do.

Flint gave an unpleasant frown, and eyed Jacob with intense suspicion. "That is very sophisticated technology, Jacob Lowe. Of course, assuming you are telling the truth…"

"I can explain." Jacob stated as confidently as possible, holding his hands in the air with calm innocence.

"That will not be necessary." Flint coolly replied, who flicked through pages of some sort of logbook in front of him before speaking again. "Very well, we have a job for you. Caravans to the west of New Vegas have been reporting an increasing amount of predators which may be endangering a small settlement there, and we are resorting to outside help to investigate and deal with the problem if necessary. I have the contract and the details here, if you are willing to sign?"

Jacob couldn't believe his luck. Wasting no time, he skimmed over the contract details and completed the form, signing his name at the bottom. Shooting a triumphant look towards Kate, he slid it across the desk towards Flint's waiting hands.

"We look forward to your return!" said Flint, giving a rare, dry smile. Jacob wondered what that meant. Was he trying to be friendly?

"Well, that went well!" exclaimed Kate, once they were standing in the lobby of the McCarran International Airport. The voices of many troopers, officials and officers reverberated across the huge interior space, ricocheting off the steel arched ceiling and the several old-world fighter jets hanging from it by thick metal cables. Though faded through rust and flaking gunmetal paint, the flag of the United States of America was still visible on their wings. Was this really the civilisation that the NCR was attempting to replicate? The late Metzger's bounty now in his jacket pocket reminded him that it was eventually worth it.

* * *

><p><em>Note: Apologies for the <strong>giant<strong> hiatus, this is just a short chapter to get me back into the swing of things. Many thanks to readers who still have this on their alert list :)_


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